Saturday, February 24, 2001
BLUE HOSE DROP TWO ON SATURDAY AT THE FLORIDA SOUTHERN INVITATIONAL
LAKELAND, FL – Presbyterian College dropped two games on Saturday at the Florida Southern Invitational tournament to Florida Tech (8-7) and to the top-ranked team in the nation the University of Tampa (13-1).
In Saturday’s first game, T.J. Staples went
four-for-four and scored four runs and John Blackstone
broke the game open with a three-run double in the sixth
inning to lead Florida Tech over #25 Presbyterian, 8-7.
The Panthers (6-11) scored in five different innings, with
Staples playing a big part in four of them. The freshman
catcher doubled and scored Florida Tech’s first run on a
wild pitch in the second inning, walked and scored on an RBI
single by Johnny Good in the fourth, and hit leadoff
singles in both the sixth and seventh innings, scoring on
Blackstone’s double and another single by Good.
Blackstone actually doubled twice in the game, with the
first time coming in the third inning when he would later
score on a throwing error by Presbyterian’s catcher. But his
second two-base hit was the biggest blow of the game. After
the Panthers had loaded the bases on Staples’ hit and walks
to Anthony Spearman and Joe Peterson, Blackstone
lashed a two-strike pitch into the left centerfield gap that
drove in all three runners and gave Florida Tech a 6-1 lead. Ronaldo
Richardson would then single him in for a 7-1 advantage.
The Blue Hose would answer with three runs of their own in
the bottom of the sixth, including a solo home run by Matt
Warren and RBI infield single by Chris
Turco that pulled them within 7-4.
After Florida Tech scored a single run in the top of the
eighth, the Blue Hose nearly rallied in the bottom of the
ninth. Turco’s one-out triple started the uprising and he
scored on a groundout by Brad Hurst.
After Kevin White
was hit by a pitch, Warren hit his second home run of the game
to make the score 8-7. Brian
Prahl then reached on an error and pinch-runner Keagan
Broussard stole second to put the tying run in scoring
position. However, Florida Tech pitcher Greg D’Espisito
got Davis Rice on a fly
ball to right to end the game.
D’Espisito pitched a complete game for the Panthers,
making over 160 pitches while striking out eight and walking
two. Six of the runs against him were earned and he also
allowed ten hits.
Presbyterian starter Kurt Hitzeman lasted just one batter into the fourth inning and gave up the first three runs of the game on three hits with three walks. Mike Noble pitched well in relief, allowing just one run in the final 3.1 innings.
In the second game of Saturday’s triple-header,
top-ranked University of Tampa used a pair of six-run innings
to defeat Presbyterian, 13-1.
The game was scoreless until the top of the fifth when the
Spartans (12-0) scored six times against Presbyterian ace Michael
Burns. Michael Burruezzo led things off with a
home run before the Spartans strung together three straight
singles for another run, with Kenny White’s infield
hit doing the honors. Two batters later Matt Smith’s
single drove in another run and Mike Rabelo followed
with a two-run double. Dwight Edge then made it 6-0
with an RBI groundout.
The score remained that way until the top of the eighth
when Tampa scored six more times, sending 12 men to the plate.
White drove in the first run of that inning and Angel Cruz
followed him with a two-run triple. After a walk to Smith,
Rabelo drove in his third run of the game with his fourth hit.
The Spartans would then score two more times in the inning to
push their lead to 12-0.
After Tampa tacked on another run in the top of the ninth,
the Blue Hose (9-9) broke up the shutout with two outs in the
bottom of the ninth. Geno
Gosnell plated the run with a single that scored Matt
Warren who had received a leadoff walk.
The Spartans, who are off to the best start in team
history, got seven shutout innings from Sam Figueroa
who allowed six hits, all singles, and struck out one with no
walks. Adrian Goas pitched a scoreless eighth before Heath
Busa finished up in the ninth.
The Blue Hose also got seven innings from their starter, but Burns gave up six runs on ten hits while striking out four and walking two. In his four previous starts this year, the senior lefthander had allowed only two runs total in four complete game victories.