LAKE WORTH, Fla. (Baseball) – Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) baseball traveled to Lake Worth, Fla. for their final regular season Sun-Lakes Conference series against Palm Beach State College (PBSC). In a decisive series for both the Lakehawks and the Panthers, PBSC won two of three to take the series and secure a spot in the Region 8 Championship ending Lake-Sumter's 2024 campaign.
Game One – Lake-Sumter 3, PBSC 5
Lake-Sumter took an early 2-0 lead over Palm Beach before the Panthers took the lead 3-2 in the bottom of the third.
A solo homerun from PBSC in the fourth extended their lead 4-2. The Panthers added one more run in the top of the seventh for a 5-2 lead over the Lakehawks.
In their last chance at bat, the Lakehawks manufactured one run, but could not find a way to meet the Panthers' lead.
Luke Bentley and Tad Brooks recorded two hits each. Jacob Delano, Edwin Melendez, Eli Thurmond, and Ean Gimson all had one hit.
Starting pitcher Tyler Toro recorded the loss with 5.1 innings pitched moving to 2-6 on the season. He allowed four runs, only one earned, on four hits with five strikeouts.
Cristian Montes and Bryan Burtoft both contributed with one inning pitched.
Montes allowed one run on three hits. Burtoft held the Panthers hitless and scoreless in the bottom of the eighth.
Game Two – Lake-Sumter 10, PBSC 5 (10 innings)
The Panthers took a 4-0 lead after the first two innings of the game.
The Lakehawks remained scoreless through the fifth. With bases loaded and two outs, Ryan Jenkins hit a double down the left field line to clear the bases and bring the score to 4-3.
In their last chance at bat, Jenkins hit another double to score Camden Williamson from second to tie up the game and go into extra innings.
Lake-Sumter and Palm Beach each scored in the ninth, keeping the game alive before the Lakehawks took a huge lead in the tenth.
Lake-Sumter scored five runs in the top of the tenth inning and held Palm Beach at five in the bottom half of the frame to secure the game two win.
Starting pitcher Preston James had the no-decision with 7.0 innings pitched. He allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts.
Robert Tracy recorded the win with the final three innings pitched. He held the Panthers to just one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Game Three – Lake-Sumter 6, PBSC 7 (9 innings)
After a back-and-forth game three, the Panthers took the series with an extra inning walk off in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Palm Beach's game three win moved the Panthers into third place for postseason seeding, moving Lake-Sumter into a two-way tie with South Florida State College.
After comparing regular head-to-head matchups from the regular season, South Florida's four wins over Palm Beach State versus Lake-Sumter's two became the determining factor. South Florida State secured the fourth spot in the Region 8 Championship, ending Lake-Sumter's 2024 season.
The Lakehawks finished the 2024 season with a 24-24-1 overall record, 14-15 in Sun-Lakes Conference play.
Up next for the Lakehawks
Post-Season awards will be announced April 30, the week of the Region 8 Championship.
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