Florida Tech Panther Sports Roundup
By Florida Tech // April 15, 2014
No. 20 Rollins Blanks No. 44 Florida Tech Tennis 9-0
No. 44 Florida Tech (6-12, 1-5 SSC) looked to close out the 2014 regular season with an upset victory but No. 20 Rollins College (11-9, 4-2 SSC) took a close doubles No. 1 match and three singles nail-biters to defeat the Panthers, 9-0, on Monday afternoon at the Bert W. Martin Tennis Complex.
With the loss, the Panthers finished the regular season 6-12 overall and have now lost six consecutive matches. However, the final scores do not indicate just how close each singles and doubles flights were.
The Tars downed No. 23 Patrick Hernandez andWade Ball, 9-7, in doubles No. 1, defeated Hernandez and Beau Fieldsend in tie-breaking flights in singles No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, and avoided a loss at the hands of Ball in singles No. 5, 7-5, 7-6.
FIT faced five nationally-ranked NCAA Division II opponents in the regular season, including four top-five programs, No. 1 Barry University, No. 3 University of West Florida, No. 4 Lynn University, and No. 4 Saint Leo University.
The SSC Championships begin on Thursday, April 24, and will be held on the campus of Rollins. Florida Tech’s opponent is yet to be determined.
Men’s Golf Falls to Sixth at SSC Championships
The No. 17 Florida Tech Panthers played the second round of the Sunshine State Conference Championships Monday afternoon and the Panthers entered the round in fifth place, but fell one spot to sixth. No. 1 Barry holds the lead with one round to play.
After a 294 in the first round, the Panthers shot a 296 for round two, and two-day total of 590. Junior Ray Badenhorst led the Panthers with an even-par 72. Freshman Joe Ellis was one-over-par with a 73.
Freshman Bret Krog improved by seven shots in the second round with a 75, and junior Justin Kalanquin shot a 76. Junior Ryan Carter rounded out the scoring with a round of 84.
No. 1 Barry is in sole possession of first place in the team standings, and leads Saint Leo by 10 shots.
The Bucs shot 11-under-par as a team in round two, and are 17-under-par for the tournament at 559. Barry’s Adam Svensson leads the individual standings, and is four-under-par for the tournament. He leads three other players, including two of his teammates by one shot. Badenhorst is the highest Panther of the leaderboard in a tie for 10th place at one-under-par.
The final round of the SSC Golf Championships will take place Tuesday morning at Lake Jovita Golf & Country Club.
Baseball Hosts Flagler Tuesday Night
The Florida Tech Panthers will play the last four home games of the season this week, and the home stand begins with Flagler Tuesday night.
This game was originally scheduled to be played back on Feb. 8 in St. Augustine, but was rained out.
The Panthers (24-17) are coming off a Sunshine State Conference series win over then No. 14 Florida Southern.
The squad won game one 6-4, but the Mocs came back and won game two 8-7 in 11 innings. Freshman Grant Willcoxon pitched a complete game shutout for the Panthers, as they took the finale 1-0 in nine innings.
Willcoxon was named SSC Pitcher of the Week for his performance.
April has been good to the Panthers so far, as they are 5-2 since the first of the month.
Freshman Grant McKown leads the squad in hitting with a .341 average. Senior Jimmie Koch has been on a tear, and hit his fifth home run since March 25 this past weekend.
He has also raised his batting average almost 50 points in that span as well.
