Baseball team defeats Polk State College Thursday

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team picked up a key Citrus Conference victory Thursday at Bruce Bochy Field.

Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Titans struck for three runs to defeat Polk State College.

Bo Tabola led off the inning with a walk and then Ryan Cerrone had a sacrifice bunt to move Tabola to second. Gustavo Mendez came up and delivered an RBI single to give the Titans a 5-4 lead. With two outs in the inning, Jeff Davis hit a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run home run to give the Titans a 7-4 lead. It was his third home run of the season.

David Morrissey came into the game in the ninth and had a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two for the win. It was his second win of the season.

Sophomore Owen Simmons had another big outing for the Titans, going 7 2/3 with eight strikeouts and gave up four runs.

The Titans go ton the board in the bottom of the first inning when Tabola doubled and scored on a Mendez single. Up 1-0 in the second inning Kevin Smith stepped up with two on and ripped a triple that scored both. He would score on an overthrow at third base.

Up 4-0, Polk State College's Zach Lester hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning and then three straight hits in the seventh inning plated two more to tie the game.

Eastern Florida State College, who improved to 11-11 in the conference, will travel to Polk State College for a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.