Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BRADENTON — Polk State Baseball was a couple of innings away from its first Citrus Conference series win. However, Polk State ultimately had to settle for a Saturday split with State College of Florida which resulted in the Eagles dropping two out of three in the series.
 
Offense was hard to come by in the first game, but Ryan Combs was able to get the big outs when it mattered as the Eagles edged the Manatees 3-2. Combs was able to strand the tying run at third in each of the final two innings of the seven-inning affair.
 
Polk State took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning before the Manatees pushed two runs across. State College of Florida loaded the bases but Combs was able to get out of the jam.
 
In the seventh, the Manatees put two runners in scoring position with one out but Combs was able to get Luis Garrido to bounce to third. Evan Wainman came home to get the lead runner. Wainman added another nice play for game's final out.
 
Wainman also had a solid game at the plate, driving home the first run in the top of the fourth with a single to score Damion Kenealy.
 
In the sixth, Polk State added a second run on a throwing error after Aaron Stelogeannis popped out on a bunt attempt. Wainman followed with another RBI single.
 
The Eagles built another 3-0 lead in game two before the Manatees trimmed the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth. Polk answered with two runs a piece in the top of the sixth and seventh frames to take a hefty 7-1 advantage into the stretch.
 
However, SCF piled in eight unanswered runs to end the game, including a sixth-run bottom of the eighth to close out the contest 9-7.
 
Six different players drove in a run for Polk in the second contest. Both Kenealy and Liam O'Neil were 2-for-4 in the game. Eight different pitchers saw the mound for the Eagles in game two, with Kenealy taking the loss.
 
Polk State will return home to take on Indian River State College on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.