WINTER HAVEN – In a pivotal Citrus Conference series, Polk State found a way to take two of three from a top-20 opponent. The Eagles won the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, the rubber game of the set, over No. 18 College of Central Florida, 7-3.

After the Patriots tied the second game at 1 on a Baliant Piros' solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, the Eagles went ahead for good with three runs in the bottom half. Hayden Testerman's solo home run gave Polk State the lead before Leo Suarez doubled home Kenay Acevedo. Josh Cruz capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI groundout to score Kevin Brunet.

Down 4-1, a two-run shot from Victor Martinez of Central Florida cut the deficit to one in the fifth inning. The Patriots, however, would get no closer.

An RBI single from Bradyn Potter in the sixth extended the Polk State lead to 5-3. The Eagles added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth on Zach Lester's two-run single.

On the mound, the Eagles got a quality start from Ronald Causby, who allowed three runs on four hits and two walks in six innings while fanning seven. Dalton Tibbetts and Aiden Dolan combined for three scoreless innings to end the game without surrendering a hit.

Potter finished 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in the win. Cruz also scored twice. Martinez and Piros combined for all four hits, two apiece, for the Patriots.

The first game, a seven-inning affair, didn't go as well as the Eagles fell, 6-1.

After two scoreless innings, College of Central Florida put together back-to-back three-run innings in the third and fourth. Piros' two-run single in the third got the scoring started. Talan Beckford started the scoring in the fourth with a solo home run.

The lone run for Polk State (29-21, 15-15 Citrus Conference) came in the bottom of the fourth. Lester led off the inning with a single before advancing to third on a Testerman double. He scored on a Cruz RBI groundout.

Testerman had two of the five Polk State hits. The Eagles did get three combined scoreless innings of relief from Jason Sawyer and Vincent Antuna. Beckford and Ignacio Salaverria each went 3-for-3 at the plate for the Patriots. Central Florida starter Kaiden Lopez went all seven innings, yielding five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

With Saturday's split and State College of Florida sweeping its doubleheader over Daytona State College, Polk State controls its own postseason destiny entering the final week of the regular season. The Eagles can clinch the fifth spot in the Citrus Conference and final FCSAA Tournament berth by taking all three games from Daytona State next week. But first, Polk State will conclude non-conference play at home on Tuesday against St. Johns River State College.