TAMPA – On perhaps the biggest day of the season to this point, Polk State Baseball did what it had to on Saturday. The Eagles swept Hillsborough College in a pivotal Citrus Conference doubleheader.

Polk State scored four unanswered runs to rally in the first game, a seven-inning affair, 4-2.

Shut out and held to just two hits through four innings, Polk State drew even with two runs in the top of the fifth. After Bradyn Potter singled home Jack Muller for the Eagles' first run, Marvin Montenegro and Hayden Testerman drew consecutive walks, allowing Fabian Gavalo to score the tying run.

In the sixth, Polk State took a 3-2 lead on Josh Cruz's sacrifice fly that scored Kustarr Webb Webb provided some insurance with an RBI single in the seventh.

After a bit of a rough effort last weekend, Roman Corinti was solid on the mound for Polk State. Corinti allowed just two runs, one earned, on six hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out six before Dalton Tibbetts worked a scoreless seventh to collect the save.

Potter, Testerman and Webb each finished with two hits and an RBI for Polk State in the win. Nick Palmi went 2-for-4 with a run scored for Hillsborough in the loss.

The offense was a bit more prevalent in the second game as Polk State held on for a 9-7 victory.

After a four-run second inning from Hillsborough, Polk State went ahead for good with three runs in the third. Zach Lester tied the game with a two-run single before scoring the go-ahead run on a Leo Suarez single to give the Eagles a 5-4 advantage.

After the teams traded runs in the fourth, Polk State (23-16, 11-10 Citrus Conference) created some breathing room with a three-run seventh inning. Three walks loaded the bases before an RBI sacrifice bunt from Cruz in which everyone was safe extended the lead to 7-5.

Potter followed with an RBI single to make it 8-5. Montenegro recorded an RBI of his own with a fielder's choice to extend the lead to 9-5.

Palmi was again the big bat for Hillsborough in game two, going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBIs. Palmi finished a double shy of the cycle and came through with a two-run homer in the eighth inning to cut the deficit to 9-7.

In the bottom of the ninth, the first two Hawks reached, forcing the Eagles to turn to Hayden Porter. Porter was able to get the lead runner on a ball bunted back to the mound for the first out before recording consecutive strikeouts to lock down the save and leave the dangerous Palmi standing on deck.

After saving the first game, Tibbetts gave the Eagles 4.1 solid innings of relief in the nightcap, yielding two runs on five hits. Polk State won despite allowing 15 hits.

At the plate, Potter finished with three hits. Suarez and Cruz each finished with two. Montenegro and Lester each scored twice in the win.

Six different Hillsborough players had multi-hit games. In addition to Palmi, Chase Conti also finished with three hits for the Hawks.

With the doubleheader sweep and a pair of losses by Seminole State College of Florida on Saturday, Polk State moves into sole possession of fifth place in the Citrus Conference. The top five teams in the conference will make the FCSAA Tournament. The Eagles will wrap up the month of March on Tuesday at home against Eastern Florida State College.