Catcher Austin Allen hit .642 in the three-game sweep of Benedict over the weekend. (Image by Amanda Stratford Photography)
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – With the look more so of a football score, the Florida Tech baseball team clubbed six more home runs in Sunday’s staggering 28-7 victory over Benedict to complete the three-game sweep of the overmatched Tigers.
The Panthers outscored Benedict 61-11 over the weekend, raking .462 with 12 homers as a club.
Grant McKown
Toting arguably the hottest bat of them all was first baseman Grant McKown.
McKown rounded out the series by going 8-for-13 with three home runs, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored.
The Panthers struggled through the early portion of Sunday’s contest, however.
In his first outing as a Panther, freshman Ty Cohen surrendered six earned runs, on eight hits in three innings of work.
Trailing 6-2 after a pair of innings, Florida Tech would respond in a big way. Over the final seven frames, the Panthers outscored Benedict by an astounding 26-1 margin.
Greg Berkemeier
“We didn’t particularly execute early in the game, but our guys did a good job of battling back and answering every time Benedict scored,” said head coach Greg Berkemeier.
“From that standpoint, it was good to see the fight in the guys, but we’ve got to do a better job of playing routine baseball early. I was pleased with the fact that we continued to play, and were able to string some hits together.”
The Crimson and Gray strung together 24 hits to be exact.
In addition, the Florida Tech bullpen threw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits. Freshman Tim Whalen picked up the first win of his career after yielding only three baserunners in four innings of relief.
“Whalen came in and threw well in his first outing,” said Berkemeier. “It was good to see him execute pitches the way we know he’s capable of. Pat Geraghty came in and threw well, and so did Wiss (Chase Wissman). It was an all-around good job by those guys. Obviously they threw the last six innings scoreless so that was big.”
A 10-run fifth inning, highlighted by deep blasts from second baseman Reid Neal and McKown, blew the game wide open as the Panthers moved to 4-0 on the year.
David Wilson
Sophomore left fielder David Wilson had a career day, going 5-for-6 with a home run, four RBIs and four runs scored in the victory.
Entering the game in the fifth inning, third baseman Erik Molina also joined in on the action, belting his first two career homers in the blowout.
FIT looks to cap a perfect four-game road trip with a win over USC Aiken Monday afternoon.
“They’re a very quality opponent,” added Berkemeier. “They’re well coached and have had a lot of success in their program’s history. It’s going to be a big challenge for us. We know we’re going to have to go out there and play well.”
First pitch at Roberto Hernandez Stadium is set for 2 p.m. Live stats will be provided for the nonconference showdown at FloridaTechSports.com/live.
