NWF Baseball tied atop the standings after two conference series in the books
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pensacola State College | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
| Northwest Florida State College | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Florida State College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Pensacola State College | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest Florida State College | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Pensacola State College | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 1 |
Pensacola State College
Northwest Florida State College
Pensacola State College
Pensacola State College
NICEVILLE, FL - The Northwest Florida State College baseball team completed their second conference series on Saturday on the road at Pensacola in a doubleheader. Despite dropping both games to the Pirates, the Raiders were successful in the mid-week games against Pensacola to earn their fourth and fifth wins in conference play. Those five wins have NWF sitting in a tie atop the Panhandle standings at 5-3 along with Chipola after three weeks of league play with the rest of conference not too far behind.
On Thursday, the Raiders defeated Pensacola at home by the score of 11-5. The final margin appears as though it was smooth sailing all afternoon for the Raiders but that was not the case early on. Northwest Florida got behind quickly 3-0 and failed to convert after loading the bases in the bottom of the second. Momentum was clearly in the visiting dugout heading into the third inning and the Raiders needed a spark.
Well, instead of a spark, they got an explosion in the bottom of the third. The Raiders plated 8 runs in the inning to take the commanding 8-3 lead and NWF never looked back from there. In the inning, Dalton McNamara drew a walk, scoring one run, AJ Frtiz drew a walk, scoring one run, Scott Mudler singled on a 1-1 count, scoring two runs, Cade Easterbrook doubled on a 2-0 count, scoring one run, Tyler Kehoe drew a walk, scoring one run, and Blake Cavill doubled on a 1-0 count, scoring two runs.
Offensively, Northwest Florida were led by McNamara who paved the way to victory with four hits. The shortstop singled in the second, singled in the fourth, singled in the sixth, and doubled in the eighth.
Brandon Smith earned the win for the Raiders. The righthander went six innings, allowing one run on one hit, striking out eight and walking zero.
In the doubleheader on Saturday, NWF just could not get the bats going. Pensacola held the Raiders to one run combined in the twin bill, defeating Northwest Florida 7-1 in the first game and 4-0 in the second game. The series between the Raiders and Pirates ended in a split, 2-2, and the two teams will meet again in round two of conference play in April.
The Raiders will next open up a 4-game series with Tallahassee Community College at home on Tuesday, March 29. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM. The Northwest Florida State College men's basketball team, having just won the NJCAA National Championship, will be honored prior to first pitch at approximately 2:50 PM.
For more information on Northwest Florida State athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow @NWFRaiders on Twitter.