FIT Baseball Cruises By Barry 9-1, Fronsoe Tosses 8-Innings
By Florida Tech Athletic Communications // April 3, 2015
FIT Improves to 28-5 On the Year
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Back on the road for the first time in two weeks, No. 15 Florida Tech shined on all accounts, earning a comfortable 9-1 series-opening win at Barry Thursday evening.
Offensively, Ricky Rodriguez paved the way in finishing only a triple shy of the cycle, while starting pitcher Ashton Fronsoe tossed eight quality innings to add to his already-stellar senior season.
“You come down here, and your job is to try to figure out a way to win the series,” said head coach Greg Berkemeier after his ball club improved to 28-5 on the year.
“To get game one, that’s obviously a good step in the right direction. We played pretty well the whole way throughout, and we’re very pleased to get the win.”
Garnering his seventh victory in eight decisions, Fronsoe’s earned run average dipped to 2.28 after he yielded seven hits and one unearned run in a season-high eight innings. In his last three starts combined, the senior has only given up three earned runs in 20 innings of work.
“I thought that Fronsoe threw the ball very well,” said Berkemeier.
“From the fourth to the seventh inning, I thought he was in good rhythm and executed a lot of pitches. He kept us in it until our bats got going a little bit.”
“It’s huge,” said Berkemeier when asked about the effect Fronsoe’s start has on the Panther bullpen. “It’s a big deal when your Friday night guy can go out there, give you eight quality innings, and basically give a bullpen that’s been used quite a bit recently a night off.”
Even though not much was needed, the offense provided Fronsoe with plenty of support in the winning effort.
Rodriguez opened the scoring on the first pitch of the second inning, sending a towering blast into the palm trees beyond the left-field fence for his sixth homer of the year.
Two innings later, Daniel Szpik sent a two-out single right back through the chute to score Rodriguez, putting the Panthers ahead 2-0.
Continuing to produce at a high level, the Sunshine State Conference’s top offense tallied two runs apiece in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to put the game out of reach.
A part of the scoring spree, first baseman Grant McKown logged his seventh home run of the season on a two-run shot lined over the 365-foot mark in left center.
In on relief of Fronsoe, Chase Wissman recorded two punch-outs in the ninth, sending FIT to its 10th conference victory.
The Panthers and Bucs will meet again on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
Log onto FloridaTechSports.com for complete coverage, courtesy of Barry.
