Lakehawk Baseball Advances to Regional Semifinal
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (Baseball) – Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) Baseball defeated St. Johns River State College (SJRSC) 4-3 to advance to the FCSAA DII Baseball Championship semifinal game on Saturday. The Lakehawks advance to Championship Saturday for the first time in the last decade.
The Lakehawks took a one run lead in the top of the second, then tacked on three more runs in the third.
A pair of walks and a basehit loaded the bases for Andrew Merchant to drive one in on an infield ground ball. Edwin Melendez followed with a single to left center to clear the bases and extend the Lakehawks' lead 4-0.
The Vikings added two to the board in the bottom of the third and one in the seventh but, were ultimately held at three runs. Lake-Sumter eliminated the reigning conference champion, SJRSC, to see another day of championship baseball.
Melendez led the Lakehawks going 2-for-2 with two RBIs and one run scored. Matthew Dumas and Tad Brooks had two hits each.
Starting pitcher Bryan Burtoft recorded the win on the mound with 6.1 innings pitched to improve to 3-0 for the season. He allowed just three runs, two earned, on five hits with four strikeouts.
Elliot Sande recorded his sixth save of the season with 2.0 innings pitched. He held the Vikings to no runs on one hit with one strikeout.
The Lakehawks recorded their 29th win of the season over SJRSC, tying for most wins in a single season. They tie with the 2002 Lakers, a Lake-Sumter team that Head Coach Rich Billings was a member of as a student-athlete.
Lake-Sumter will take on South Florida State College on Saturday for the semifinal at 1:00 p.m. The game will be livestreamed free of charge here.
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