Coming into this recent swing of games at a solid 5-3 record, the Daytona State Men’s Baseball team was looking to continue their winning ways. They kicked things off with a Friday afternoon matchup against the Florida State College of Jacksonville Blue Wave at 1 P.M.
A quick, action-limited game, left the Falcons to drop this one by a final score of 4-1. 15 total hits between the 2 teams paved the way for a game time of just over 2 hours. The Falcons couldn’t get much done with the bat, the lone run coming off of a Nate Cannizzaro blast over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the 9th to cut the deficit to just 3 runs.
However, 6 total hits for Daytona State were never going to be enough to get the job done, despite Sophomore Austin Harford going 4.1 innings and only conceding 1 run in the afternoon. The Falcons had to use 5 relievers to finish this one, a little bit of salt on the wound to add to the defeat. Brady Ham failed to record an out. After walking 2 and giving up 2 hits, he was pulled from the game and Chase Booth was given the task of putting out the fire.
After this game, the Falcons hit the road for a 3-game road trip where they went 1-2, dropping another against FSCJ, picking up a win against St Johns River State College, and retreating back to the loss column with a 19-3 5 inning run rule blowout to Indian River State College.
They returned home on February 16 in hopes of bouncing back from an utter embarrassment to rematch the team they had lost so badly to just a day prior, but to no avail.
The offense showed out but it was the pitching that struggled. Harford took to the mound again but this time around only salvaged 3 innings and gave up 3 earned. Tyler Borton came in for long relief and also conceded 3 runs while striking out 3 in the process. 2-hit performances from Adam Parzych, Scott Edwards, Xavier Lopez, and Nate Cannizzaro made for an extremely productive day at the top of the order.
Credit: Daytona State Athletics.
Despite having no runners LOB, a 4 spot put up in the top half of the 4th by the Pioneers left Daytona State in the loss column once again. The Falcons fell by a final score of 6-4 in 7 innings, dropping game one of the doubleheader. And the ladder matchup in the doubleheader was not pleasant, to say the least.
A 10-run mercy rule called off the game in 5 innings, with the Pioneers logging their 3rd straight victory over the Falcons, by a final score of 10-0. An abysmal 2 hits from Daytona -Lopez and Cannizzaro the providers- gave Indian River State College an even easier path than they already had.
Cade Drohan only surrendered 2 hits for the Pioneers, while Chase Booth gave up 3 runs and 3 walks in just 0.1 innings of work. He was replaced by Wyatt Mummert, who coughed up 2 more runs on 5 hits before the Pioneers offense settled down.
A cancellation of their home game against CCBC Catonsville sent the Falcons back out on the road to face off against Rollins College JV, where they were able to secure the 4-2 win. Only scoring 4 runs on 4 hits was enough for Daytona to outlast Rollins who doubled their hit total, but shot themselves in the foot defensively, with 3 errors allowing the Falcons to claw a lead out of it. Jeremiah Pachota picked up his first save of the season which only required a third of an inning of work, while Bryce Roth picked up his second win of the early season, improving to 2-0.
The Falcons currently sit at a record of 7-7. Not ideal, but it’s a season that is far from over with a lot yet to be decided. Want to catch a game? Check out the Boys’ schedule right here at: 2024 Daytona State College Baseball Schedule – Daytona State College (dscfalcons.com)