ST. AUGUSTINE – Flagler College had the bases loaded with two outs and trailed by one run but couldn't push across anymore in a 7-6 loss to Georgia Southwestern State University in a Peach Belt Conference baseball series Saturday afternoon at Drysdale Field.
Georgia Southwestern improved to 26-11 overall and 10-7 in the Peach Belt. Flagler is now 16-19 overall and 9-8 in conference play. The two teams will play the rubber game of the series tomorrow at 1 p.m.
The Saints trailed 7-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
Payton Palladino hit a one-out double to the right-center field gap and came around to score on
Matthew Burke's base hit up the middle.
Flagler sent nine men to the plate in the ninth.
Trey Newland and
Mason Gray hit back-to-back one-out singles to start the rally. Two batters later,
Jesse Sullivan hit a single to right to score Newland. Palladino drew a walk to load the bases and Burke was hit by a pitch to force in another run and cut the deficit to 7-5. Hurricane reliever Joseph Roden walked the first batter he faced and that let Sullivan score the sixth run for the Saints. But Roden struck out the last batter to end the game.
Rijnaldo Euson (6-1) scattered five hits and allowed one earned run over six innings to pick up the win for Georgia Southwestern. Roden pocketed his third save of the year.
George Davis led the Hurricane offense with four hits as he was a triple short of the cycle. His two-run home run in the first inning keyed a three-run out-burst. Jake Blinstrub collected three singles, scored a run, and had one run batted in. Matthew Manuel went 2-for-4 with a double and he scored two runs.
Cooper Smith (4-4) allowed six runs on 11 hits in five innings of work for the Saints. He struck out five batters.
Parker Adams,
Jake Hill,
Anthony Nofi, and
Brad Vondruska all saw time in relief.
Sullivan went 3-for-4 with a double, one RBI, and he scored a run.
Donovan Garcia went 2-for-4 with a triple and he scored a run. Newland singled twice, scored two runs, and drove in another.
Before the game, Joe Collins and his family were honored for all they have done for Flagler College and the baseball program.
CONNECT WITH THE SAINTS: Facebook |
X |
Instagram |
YouTube
DOWNLOAD TEAM SCHEDULES: Download Center
FOLLOW YOUR FAVORITE SAINTS TEAM: Sign up for Newsletter
