Lakehawk Baseball Releases 2025 Schedule
The Lakahawks have a 54-game schedule, including 23 home dates
LEESBURG, Fla. (Baseball) – The Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) baseball team has released their schedule for the upcoming 2025 season. The Lakahawks have a 54-game schedule, including 23 home dates.
Lake-Sumter baseball completed the 2024 season with a 26-26-1 record, tying for the second most wins in a single season in program history. The team placed four on the All-Sun-Lakes Conference list, three on the Region 8 Gold Glove Team, and one on the All-FCSAA/All-NJCAA Region 8 team.
The Lakehawks return 18 sophomores for the 2025 season, including Andrew Merchant who was named all-conference and to the gold glove team in 2024.
As a freshman, Merchant posted a .339 batting average, .444 on-base percentage, and a .491 slugging percentage. On defense, he recorded a .987 fielding percentage with just one error in 79 chances from the outfield.
Right-handed pitcher Max Windham also returns for his sophomore season after taking a redshirt in 2024. In 2023, Windham posted a 4-6 record on the mound with 67.1 innings pitched.
Head Coach Rich Billings enters his 15th year leading the Lakehawks. He shares his thoughts headed into the season, "I am very excited to watch out players compete in 2025."
"Our schedule is a challenging one that includes many of our in-state Division I junior colleges from Tallahassee all the way to Ft. Pierce. We also have some tough competition from out-of-state teams coming in for spring break, which include CCBC Catonsville (Md.) and Lansing Community College (Mich.)."
"In addition, we will be hosting, for the first time ever, New College of Florida, a competitive NAIA program out of Bradenton, Fla," said Coach Billings.
The Lakehawks will open at home on Friday, Jan. 24 with a single game against Santa Fe College at 1:00 p.m. On Saturday, they will host Millenia Atlantic University for a double header at 12:00 and 2:30 p.m.
Lake-Sumter will play non-conference opponents in January until late February to prepare for a highly competitive Sun-Lakes Conference regular season schedule.
In conference play, the Lakehawks will face each opponent in two three-game series for a total of six regular season matchups accounting for post-season placement. Each team will host three games and go on the road for three games.
The Sun-Lakes Conference consists of six teams: Florida State College at Jacksonville, Lake-Sumter State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, South Florida State College, and St. Johns River State College.
After a 30-game conference slate, the top-four teams will compete in the 2025 Region 8 Championship from May 1-4. At this time, the championship location is still to be determined.
"It is going to be a great year for Lakehawk baseball. Our players are excited and up to the tremendous challenge of competing for a Sun-Lakes Conference championship," said Coach Billings.
All Lakehawk home games will be livestreamed free of charge during the season. Games can be accessed at Team 1 Sports: College.
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