Box Score WINTER HAVEN – Polk State Baseball made it two in a row on Monday night as the Eagles erased an early four-run deficit to top Seminole State College of Florida, 7-5.
Sloppy defense allowed the Raiders to score five unearned runs in the top of the second inning. For what the Eagles lacked in the field early on, however, they made up for at the plate.
After scoring a run in each of the first three innings, Polk State (2-5) drew even with two runs in the fourth.
Damion Kenealy's sacrifice fly scored
J'Quann Smith before a fielding error on a grounder to third off the bat of
Travis Stapleton allowed
Ray Mercer to score the tying run.
A two-run home run from
Pierce Glading in the fifth ultimately put Polk State ahead for good. The bullpens traded zeroes for the remainder of the night.
On the mound,
Jaydon Bishop was able to overcome the early miscues in the field to work five strong innings and pick up the win. All five of the runs off Bishop were unearned. He allowed one hit, three walks, and hit a batter while fanning six.
Aiden Butler and
Ryan Combs were stellar in relief as the two combined to allow just one hit and one walk in four scoreless innings. Forty-one of their combined 53 pitches went for strikes. Combs struck out two to pick up the save during a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
In Saturday's win over Daytona State College, 13 of the 14 hits for the Eagles went for singles. On Monday night, Polk State hit for the cycle as a team.
In addition to Glading's blast, Mercer recorded an RBI triple in the second and a double in the fourth. Smith scored two of the seven runs for the Eagles in the victory.
For Polk State, Monday began a stretch of five games in six days. The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday night against Webber International University (B).
