ST. AUGUSTINE – Flagler College and Lander University split a pair of pitcher's duels in a Peach Belt Conference baseball doubleheader at Drysdale Field Saturday afternoon. Lander won the opener 1-0, but Flagler held on to win 2-1 in the second game.
Flagler is now 12-27 overall and 8-15 in the Peach Belt. Lander moved to 18-23 overall and 12-11 in league play.
The Saints scored both of its runs in the second inning in the second game of the doubleheader.
Matthew Burke got things going with a two-out single to right field and took second after
Tim Kudlinski also singled to right.
Jonny Crowel followed by belting a double down the right field line to score Burke. Lander pitcher Luke Johnson (2-1) tried to pickoff Crowel at second base, but shortstop Ethan Wilder had the throw hit his glove and got far enough away to allow Kudlinski to score.
The Bearcats rallied in the ninth as they scored a run after a fielding error by Flagler shortstop
Donovan Garcia. That put runners at first and second with one out. Casey Singleton hit an infield single to load the bases. Oliver Zohn followed by hitting a soft line drive to left-center that
Trey Newland tracked down. He tossed the ball to Garcia who sprinted to second base to double up the base runner who had drifted too far off the base to end the game.
Dylan Faulkner (4-3) tossed seven scoreless innings and scattered four hits. He struck out 10 batters.
Steven Reiss closed the final two innings to get the save. He allowed one run on two hits.
Newland and Crowel each hit a double for the Saints.
Johnson went the distance for the Bearcats and surrendered one earned run on four hits. He induced 13 ground outs and seven fly outs.
Six different Bearcats hit a single.
In the opener, Lander scored an unearned run in the ninth inning.
Lucas Martino hit a leadoff triple to right-center and Singleton came in to pinch run for him. After a strikeout, Bennet Nooe hit a grounder to the left of Flagler third baseman
Jaiden Warde. Warde fielded the grounder, but his throw to the plate was off target allowing Singleton to score the lone run of the game.
The Saints had runners at second and third with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but the last batter grounded out to end the game.
Nick Foray (3-5) won the pitcher's duel as he tossed eight scoreless innings and allowed one hit. He fanned four batters. Foray retired 14 batters on fly outs and six more on ground outs. Bennett Sloper tossed a scoreless ninth to record his first save of the season.
Zohn collected a pair of singles for the Bearcats.
Gage Voorhees (1-4) allowed one unearned run on seven hits with five strikeouts for the Saints. He got 11 batters to fly out and eight more to ground out.
Warde collected two singles.
The same two teams meet tomorrow at 11 a.m. in the rubber game of the series.
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