Florida Tech Rolls Pass Saint Leo 13-5 To Claim Series Win, No. 19 Nova Due Up Next

By  //  April 25, 2016

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Florida Tech’s offense was in a groove, to say the least, Sunday afternoon at Seminick-Hall Field. Featuring eight multi-hit efforts throughout the lineup, and 20 hits overall, the Panthers rolled to a 13-5 victory to capture the Sunshine State Conference series win over Saint Leo. (FIT Image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Florida Tech’s offense was in a groove, to say the least, Sunday afternoon at Seminick-Hall Field. Featuring eight multi-hit efforts throughout the lineup, and 20 hits overall, the Panthers rolled to a 13-5 victory to capture the Sunshine State Conference series win over Saint Leo.

John Sternagel reached base five times in the effort, scoring on three of those occasions and adding to his league-lead by picking up stolen base No. 32 on the season. Meanwhile, Kevin Capella and Daniel Szpik each went 3-for-4 at the dish, tallying a pair of RBIs and runs scored in the process.

Greg Berkemeier
Greg Berkemeier

“I thought that we played well pretty much all weekend,” said Florida Tech head coach Greg Berkemeier.

“Offensively, I thought we swung the bats well and had good approaches throughout the series. The guys put themselves in a good position, and even the guy who didn’t get any knocks today still hit some balls firm. I’m glad to get the series win.”

On the mound, Luke Lorah kept his perfect record intact, improving to 4-0 on the year. The junior southpaw entered the ball game in the fourth inning, and after recording just one out, was rewarded with an instant six-run cushion to return to the hill with.

Lorah finished the day throwing 3.1 innings, yielding just one earned run while striking out two, as he and fellow reliever Brett Porter held the Lions in check for the final 5.1 innings of action.

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Featuring eight multi-hit efforts throughout the lineup, and 20 hits overall, the Panthers rolled to a 13-5 victory to capture the Sunshine State Conference series win over Saint Leo. (FIT Image)

Florida Tech jumped out to a 3-0 edge in the bottom of the second inning following a pair of two-out RBIs by Capella and Erik Molina. Like they did for much of the weekend, though, the Lions responded and even the score up at 3-3 just two innings later on a Shane Williams dribbler up the middle.

However, the Panthers squashed any of Saint Leo’s momentum and grasped firm control of the contest in the home half of the fourth. The first five batters of the frame reached base safely as Florida Tech sent 11 total batters to the plate in what eventually resulted in a sixth-run rally.

Ryan Sinzenich
Ryan Sinzenich

An RBI-double off the bat of John Sprowls increased the lead to 6-3 before Szpik, James Gronberg and Capella piled on with RBI-singles with the Panthers well into the Saint Leo bullpen.

Still up 9-3, Ryan Sinzenich tacked on two more runs in the fifth on a rope down the left field line.

Three innings later, David Wilson tested the right field line, adding an RBI-double for good measure to help the Panthers record their fifth consecutive series victory at home this season.

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As a group, Florida Tech raked a collective .388 versus the Lions in the series, receiving a team-best .538 clip from Gronberg.

With the end of the academic semester approaching, Florida Tech will be off next week before returning to action on Saturday, May 7 for the start of a three-game set against 19th-ranked Nova Southeastern.

For complete coverage throughout the weekend, and to stay up-to-date with the Panthers, log onto FloridaTechSports.com.