Baseball team opens series at Seminole State Thursday

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team will open a Citrus Conference series Thursday afternoon on the road.

The Titans will head to Seminole State College for the start of a three-game series with the Raiders. Thursday's opener will begin at 2 p.m. with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon at Bruce Bochy Field.

Eastern Florida State College is 3-3 in the conference and 12-7 overall this season and will meet Seminole State College for the first time this season. The Raiders are 4-2 in the conference and 13-6 overall and a perfect 7-0 at home.

Seminole State College, who has won five straight, is hitting .300 as a team coming into the series and are led by the duo of Kaiden Lopez and Erwin Cabasso.

Lopez is hitting .423 in 16 games this season while Cabasso is hitting .412 with four home runs and 21 RBI. The 21 RBI is tied for fourth in the FCSAA.

Sophomore Owen Simmons will get the start for the Titans and comes in as one of the best pitchers in the state with four wins and a 0.90 ERA with 32 strikeouts, all among the top five in the state. Simmons is coming off a complete game shutout against the College of Central Florida and was the FCSAA Pitcher of the Week.

Offensively, the Titans are hitting .294 as a team with leadoff hitter Kevin Smith is hitting .362 with three home runs and has driven in 15 runs while teammate Bo Tabola is hitting .356 with four double and two home runs.

Smith leads the state in stolen bases with 23 this season while Tabola is tied for fourth with 11.

Saturday's doubleheader will begin at noon at Bruce Bochy Field. Admission is free to home games and fans can watch the games live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.