Box Score AUBURNDALE, Fla. – A triple and two-run home run by junior
Adam Bronson along with a decisive performance on the mound by fellow third year
Steven Ramsdell vaulted the Gators to a rain-shortened, 3-2 win over Hope on Monday afternoon.
The Gators (5-2 overall) continue their undefeated start to their 2014 spring break trip with eight-inning win over the Dutchmen (1-5 overall), sparked by the run support by Bronson but also the performance of Ramsdell, who maintained his 3-0 unbeaten start to the season.
Ramsdell pitched all eight innings, allowing only one earned run and six hits while striking out five, lowering his ERA to 2.49 in the process. Sophomore
Zach Gray along with freshmen
Jacob Shick and
Ian Frazier each picked up a run apiece, while junior
Eric Weyant drove in a run to pick up a RBI.
After Hope retired the Allegheny first in order, Ramsdell faced an early threat when Hope led off the bottom of the first with a single. The junior responded by retiring the next eight batters, holding Hope without a hit until the third. In the second, Bronson led off with a triple to right center on a 1-2 count and scored the Gators' first run after a sacrifice fly by Weyant to center.
In the third, Hope threatened to tie with a runner on third and one out, but sophomore
Matt Sardini made a diving play on a soft line drive to right, then threw to senior
Kyle Davis, who found Bronson to complete the 9-3-2, inning-ending double play.
Shick reached on an error in the fifth, setting the stage for Bronson's long, arcing home run over the left field scoreboard to give the Gators a 3-0 lead. The weather started to make an impact on the game in the seventh inning, when Hope scored its first run of the game and had runners on second and third with one out.
After a 30-minute lightning delay, Ramsdell forced a groundout that scored the Dutchmen's second run before striking out the third batter to retire the side with the lead intact. The junior would shut down the Hope bats in order in the bottom of the eighth before a second lightning bolt and heavy rain forced the umpires to call the game at the end of the frame.
The Gators will next battle State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) member Oswego State at 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 17.
