Box Score DAYTONA BEACH – The bats for Polk State Baseball came to life in the middle innings as the Eagles held off Daytona State College in a Citrus Conference battle of the birds on Thursday afternoon, 10-8.

Hitless through three innings, the Eagles (21-15, 9-7 Citrus) went ahead for good with three runs in the fourth inning. Polk State added four in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Back-to-back RBI singles from Aaron Stelogeannis and Liam O'Neil broke the scoreless tie in the fourth as Polk State took a 2-0 lead. Kelsen Johnson came through with a sacrifice fly to add to the lead.

After a two-run home run from Xavier Lopez in the bottom of the third cut the Daytona State deficit to 3-2, the Eagles used the long ball to their advantage in the top of the fourth. Following an RBI single from Evan Wainman, O'Neil belted his team-leading fifth home run of the season – a three-run blast – to extend the lead to 7-2.

It looked as though Polk State may win by run rule as back-to-back RBI doubles from Damion Kenealy and Aris Rivera in the sixth and then an RBI single from Wainman pushed the advantage to 10-2. The Falcons, however, refused to go quietly.

A two-run home run from Brett Corbitt and an RBI double from Lopez cut the Polk State lead to five in the bottom of the seventh. Gavin Dicks was able to get a big strikeout with the bases loaded to end the seventh, but Daytona State added two more runs in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate. Closer JT Long was able to get out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts.

In the ninth, the Falcons put the tying run in scoring position following a two-out RBI single from Corbitt and a stolen base. Long was able to strike out Charlie Pellicer for his fourth strikeout of the day to end the contest.

Polk State starting pitcher Aiden Butler ran into trouble in the seventh inning but picked up his team-leading sixth win of the season, allowing five runs in 6.2 innings. Long collected his FCSAA-leading eighth save.

Wainman and Stelogeannis each finished with three hits in the win. Stelogeannis, Rivera, and Kenealy each scored twice.

Now winners of nine of their last 10, the Eagles will try to clinch a third straight Citrus Conference series on Saturday when they host Daytona State for a doubleheader. Start times are scheduled for 12 p.m. and 3 p.m.