Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WINTER HAVEN — As was the case on Thursday night in Bradenton, the eighth again proved to be the magical inning for Polk State Baseball in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. The Eagles salvaged a doubleheader split against State College of Florida to take the three-game set.

In the second game on Saturday and the rubber game of the series, Polk State pushed across a pair of eighth-inning runs to rally to a 4-3 win. The Eagles scored three in the eighth on Thursday to win the first game of the series by an identical score.

Through six inning in game two on Saturday, the Manatees had no answer for Polk State starting pitcher Gavin Dicks. State College of Florida was able to chase Dicks with a run before adding a pair of unearned runs off Zane Wright during a three-run seventh.

The eighth/inning rally for Polk State started when Jordan Thomas reached on an error. After a Hayden Testerman single, Thomas came around to score on Andy Schroeder's game-tying double. 

Zach Lester came through with the go-ahead single three batters later. Testerman scored on the hit, but Schroeder was thrown out at the plate, trying to extend the lead.

Despite allowing a hit and a walk and being victim to a fielding error, closer Wade Johnson was able to make the one-run lead hold up — thanks largely to a pickoff in the top of the ninth. With runners at the corners, Johnson sealed the deal by getting Ben Ryan to line out to Polk State first baseman Kustarr Webb.

At the plate, Webb was responsible for driving in the first two runs. Webb singled in a run in the first before adding another RBI single in the sixth.

Webb, Schroeder, and Liam O'Neil each finished with two hits for the Eagles. Thomas scored twice in the win. Walker Vanecek finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs for SCF in the loss.

Although he didn't factor in the decision, Dicks was stellar for the Eagles. Dicks allowed just a run on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts in six innings. Johnson allowed just a hit and two walks in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win.

Polk State opened the day with an 8-2 loss.

The Eagles managed just three hits for the game and were kept off the scoreboard until the bottom of the sixth in the seven-inning affair. The Manatees got the scoring started with three runs in the second. After adding a run in the fourth, they blew things open with a four-run fifth.

Lester broke up the shutout with an RBI single in the sixth to score Testerman. Thomas drove in a run in the seventh on a fielder's choice.

Hayden Gustavson and Allan Gil Fernandez each finished with two hits, two runs scored, and three RBIs for State College of Florida.

With the split, Polk State moves to 11-10 on the season and 4-2 in Citrus Conference action. The Eagles will head to Fort Pierce to take on Indian River State College in a non-conference tilt on Tuesday.