WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (Baseball) – Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) baseball traveled to Winter Haven, Fla. on Saturday for a non-conference double header with Polk State. The Lakehawks and the Eagles split the day, Lake-Sumter taking game one and Polk State taking game two.
Game One – Lake-Sumter 6, Polk State 2
Behind seven hits, Lake-Sumter took game one over Polk Stat 6-2 to end the Eagles' four-game win streak.
The Lakehawks took an early 1-0 lead over the Eagles in the second inning after a sac fly to center field from Dylan Bigard scored Tad Brooks.
Polk State tied up the game in the bottom half of the second. Then, the Eagles added another run in the fourth taking the lead 2-1.
In the top of the sixth, Matthew Dumas started a huge Lakehawk rally with a leadoff single to the right side of the field.
After a clutch sacrifice bunt from Luke Bentley to move Dumas, Ryan Jenkins blasted a double off the left field fence to tie up the game.
Polk State attempted to stall the Lakehawk rally with a pitching change, but had no luck.
With three more back-to-back hits, the Lakehawks tacked on four more runs to extend their lead 6-2 over the Eagles.
Dumas went 2-for-3 with a walk and one run scored. Eli Thurmond also went 2-for-3 with an RBI and one run scored.
Tyler Toro and Robert Tracy teamed up on the mound for the game one win.
Toro got the start, throwing the first 4.1 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits and four walks with five strikeouts.
Tracy took the mound in relief, closing out the final 2.2 innings. He gave up just one walk while allowing no runs and no hits with six strikeouts to record the win.
Tracy improved to 1-0 on the season.
Game Two – Lake-Sumter 6, Polk State 15
With six runs scored on 12 hits, Lake-Sumter tried to keep the game one momentum going into game two but fell short to the Eagles' 15-run rally.
Lake-Sumter put a run on the board in the fifth after Jenkins hit his second double of the day to score Bentley from first base.
The Lakehawks added five more runs in the top of the sixth, but was ultimately not enough to overcome Polk State's nine-run lead.
Camden Williamson went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Brooks, Thurmond, and Bentley all added two hits with one run scored.
Sophomore Nathan Quinn recorded the loss on the mound with 2.0 innings pitched to move to 1-1 on the season. Quinn allowed nine runs on eight hits and one walk with one strikeout.
Trey Clinton, Cristian Montes, and Rodney Sesler tossed 2.0 innings each in attempts to silence the Eagles offense.
Lake-Sumter improved to 3-8-1 on the season with one win on the day, while Polk State moved to 8-6.
Up next for the Lakehawks
Lakehawk Baseball will host St. Petersburg College on Wednesday, February 14 at 2:00 p.m. Livestream video and stats will be available to those who cannot attend.
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