Palatka, Fla. – After securing the fourth seed in the Mid-Florida Conference Tournament, the Lake-Sumter State College baseball team knocked off three seeded St. Johns River State on Friday by mercy rule.
The Vikings got on the board early with one run in the first inning and another in the second. A bases loaded walk issued to Robbie Scott in the top of the third allowed Brody Rubenstein to cross home plate, cutting the deficit in half, 2-1.
It was a big fifth inning for the Lakehawks that put them ahead. The bats came alive to the tune of a six hit, five run inning to put LSSC on top, 6-2. The scoring got started with a two RBI double down the right field line to plate Maurice James and Angel Padilla. Scott notched his second RBI of the game while Jarret Backus and Seth Martin both drove in one run each.
Kyle Wiseman got the start on the mound for the Lakehawks tossing six innings of stellar baseball. The first team All Mid-Florida Conference selection gave up just two hits and two earned runs while striking out six.
A five run fifth was not enough for LSSC who came back to put up a big top of the seventh putting the mercy rule into effect. Six hits and one Viking miscue later, LSSC was able to bring around seven runs.
Colby Woodard came in to relieve Wiseman and was just as impressive. Woodard slammed the door closed, striking out the side sending his team on to the next round of the conference tournament with a 13-2 win.
Lake-Sumter will head to Ocala, FL Saturday to take on Central Florida for game 1 of a 3 game series. First pitch is slated for 1 pm. Game two will take place at Lake-Sumter Sunday with a 1 pm start time. An "if necessary" game three will be back at CF, Monday at 3 pm. The winner will move on to the state tournament.