DAYTONA BEACH — Polk State Baseball hit the 30-win mark with a doubleheader split with Daytona State College on Saturday.
Polk State reached that threshold with a 6-3 victory in the first game — a seven-inning contest.
The Eagles were powered by a solid start on the mound from Ronald Causby. The right-hander allowed just a run while scattering seven hits over five innings and one walk and fanning five.
Jack Muller got the scoring started with an RBI double in the first inning to plate Bradyn Potter. Potter doubled the Polk State lead to 2-0 with a solo home run to lead off the third.
After the Falcons got on the board in the bottom of the inning, the Eagles created some distance with four runs in the fourth.Â
Marvin Montenegro and Kenay Acevedo each had RBI singles in the frame. Potter and Zach Lester also played runs with productive outs.
Dalton Tibbetts worked the final two innings on the mound. The Falcons scored two runs in the seventh. Chase Wilson went 2-for-4 with two runs scored for Daytona State in the loss.
The Eagles led on two different occasions in the second game but a big fifth inning for Daytona State was too much to overcome as Polk State fell, 11-6.
Polk State (30-24, 16-17 Citrus Conference) plated a run in the first before taking a 3-2 lead on Lester's two-run home run in the third.
The Falcons went ahead to stay with six runs in the fifth inning. After Josh Vinciguerra's two-run double put Daytona State ahead for good, Miguel Gonzalez's three-run homer extended the lead to 7-3.
Down 8-3 after five innings, Polk State was able to get back into it with three runs in the sixth. Acevedo followed Leo Suarez's sacrifice fly with a two-run home run to make it 8-6.
After a rain delay, the Falcons added some insurance with three runs in the seventh. Jack Waddingham's two-run double highlighted the inning.
Muller finished with three hits and an RBI in the loss. Montenegro added a pair of hits and a run scored for Polk State. Jason Sawyer was the bright spot on the mound, tossing 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Five different Daytona State players had multi-hit games. Waddingham led the Falcons with four RBIs.
With the split, Polk State has now won 30 games for the fifth time in six years and the 12th time in 16 years under Head Coach Al Corbeil. The Eagles will learn early next week whether they will receive the lone FCSAA Tournament at-large bid.
