SCF baseball drops crucial conference game in extra innings

BRADENTON -- It was a game they needed to have.

Trailing by one game for the final automatic state tournament berth in the Suncoast Conference, State College of Florida's baseball team entered Friday's contest with St. Petersburg College looking to get level with the Titans, while staying within reach of league-leading Polk State.

However, the Manatees (27-18 overall, 12-11 conference) made a few mental mistakes, walked too many batters and couldn't mount a final comeback in a 9-6 10-inning loss at Robert C. Wynn Field.

It was SCF's third straight loss.

"We've been in all the games, and nobody's really beat us," SCF head coach Tim Hill II said. "We've just seemed to find a new way to beat ourselves every time. So we've got to figure out a way to minimize our mistakes. And if we can do that, we can win the rest of our games."

That remaining schedule includes seven games against conference opponents in the top half of the league: the series finale against St. Pete on Saturday, a three-game set against Hillsborough C.C. next week and three against conference-leading Polk State.

"Going into this week, we were second by ourselves and only a couple out of first," Hill II said. "We've struggled this week, and we've got to figure out a way to turn it around and finish strong."

St. Pete finished strong Friday, scoring three in the 10th inning to earn the season tiebreaker over SCF if the two teams are tied at the end of conference play.

To get there, though, the Titans had to thwart two

SCF comebacks.

First, St. Pete saw a 4-1 lead evaporate when the Manatees scored four in the bottom of the fifth to take a one-run lead.

SCF did it with aggressive base running. Keshawn Lynch drove in the second Manatees run in the frame when Michael Gizzi beat a throw from right field. However, the bang-bang play also saw the ball scoot toward the backstop past St. Pete catcher Scott Manea.

That brought home Ricardo Rivera and Lynch, who advanced to second on the original throw home and went to third as Rivera charged to the plate and subsequently scored as the ball was errant again and nobody from St. Pete covered the plate.

However, St. Pete rallied for two runs over the next two innings to take a 6-5 lead entering the back half.

And in the bottom of the eighth inning, SCF produced its second comeback after Ethan Skender doubled and pinch-runner Kevin Buckley scored on Garrett Hall's single up the middle.

But the inning could have produced even more runs for the Manatees.

During Skender's at-bat, Lynch was caught stealing on a missed hit-and-run play.

"Every little thing matters," Hill II said. "And for us to miss signals for the 45th game, (it) shouldn't happen."

Rivera (2 for 4, two runs), Lynch (2 for 5) and Skender (2 for 4, double) produced multi-hit games for the Manatees.

While Friday's setback was a swift blow to a program that has made 20 consecutive state tournament appearances, both head coaches said there's plenty of baseball left to play.

"We're not out of it, they're not out of it," Beckman said. "Nobody's clinched anything yet, (so) we both gotta keep playing baseball."

Jason Dill, sports reporter, can be reached at 745-7017. Follow him on Twitter @Jason__Dill and like his Facebook page at Jason Dill Bradenton Herald.

This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 12:13 AM with the headline "SCF baseball drops crucial conference game in extra innings ."