Gainesville, Fla. – After the Lake-Sumter State College baseball team upset No. 1 in the nation Saturday, Santa Fe, 4-3, Seminole State knocked off Daytona State putting the Lakehawks in the postseason.
A 0-0 ball game through the first four innings, the road warrior Lakehawks jumped on the board first to start the top of the fifth. Brody Rubenstein scored on a throwing error and was followed by Angel Padilla who crossed home plate on a base hit by Maurice James to go up, 2-0.
The Saints answered back with one run in the bottom half of the inning. LSSC was not done, adding a second consecutive two run inning in the sixth to go up 4-1. Two runs on one hit and a second Santa Fe miscue led to the two run inning for the Lakehawks.
It was the Lake-Sumter bullpen that stepped up when the team needed them most that sealed the deal. Nick Labrada got the start and was flawless on the bump going 5 1/3 innings giving up just three hits and one run. Quinn Echelson came in for two innings of strong relief allowing one unearned run in the eighth. Xavier Rodriguez was able to close the door giving up one run on one hit while collecting the final four outs of the ball game.
This marks the first time since 2011 the Lakehawks will be playing postseason baseball. "The heart these guys played with this past week, knowing what they needed to do, speaks volumes about the toughness and character of our program," said Head Coach, Rich Billings. "With the teams we had to go through to accomplish what we set out to do and beating Santa Fe to top it off shows a ton of toughness from our guys and I could not me more proud of them."
With the season winding down Monday against Central Florida at 3 pm, the Lakehawks are guaranteed fourth place in the Mid-Florida Conference. Postseason play will begin Friday when LSSC hits the road to take on St. Johns River State for a one game playoff slated to start at 4 pm.