#TCCBaseball storms back to take opener with SCF

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (February 19, 2016) – NJCAA Region 8 No. 1 Tallahassee Community College rallied from a 10-5 deficit and defeated No. 4 State College of Florida, 11-10, on Friday evening in game one of the teams' two-game weekend series. 

The Eagles improved to 13-3 with the win while State College of Florida fell to 10-4. 

Tallahassee scored the winning run in its final at-bat when Kyle Cavanaugh's bases-loaded sac-fly scored Zach Featherstone from third. 

En route to the come-from-behind victory, Tallahassee overcame deficits of 3-0, 7-2 and 10-5 during the first four innings. 

The ninth-inning rally began with consecutive walks to Chase Hahnemann and Featherstone. After a force out at third retired Hahnemann, Kyle Taddeo's bloop single to center loaded the bases with one out and set the stage for Cavanaugh, who finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. 

Tallahassee had base runners throughout, thanks in large part to five Manatee errors and 12 walks issued by a total of four different pitchers. But despite scoring 11 runs, Tallahassee still stranded 14 base runners. Combined with an early deficit, it was almost too much for the Eagles to overcome. Almost. 

Before fans could get settled in, State College of Florida put three runs on the board in the first against Tallahassee starter Felix Dieguez. After the Eagles got two of the runs back in their first at-bat, the Manatees went to work again in the second. 

Ricardo Rivera tripled to deep right-center, scoring Jared Pruett and knocking out Dieguez after just 1.1 innings. With Craig Olson on in relief, Rivera scored on a ground out and an inning later, Kevin Buckley drilled a two-run homer to give State College of Florida a 7-2 lead. 

Deyvid Silva's three-run homer in the third cut the Eagles' deficit to 7-5, but the Manatees answered with three of their own in the fourth, knocking out Olson and regaining a five-run cushion. 

It was Tallahassee's third pitcher of the night, Octavio Marin, who finally slowed down the Manatees' offense. While he allowed only one hit and one walk over the next 2.2 innings, the Eagles began chipping away at State College of Florida's lead. 

Cavanaugh singled home Featherstone for the Eagles' lone run in the fourth. 

With the bases loaded and nobody out in the fifth, a wild pitch scored Bret Maxwell and Hahnemann's ground out to short plated Mac Wilson. 

A key play in the game occurred an inning later. 

With runners on first and third and one out, Maxwell hit a grounder to short, in what appeared to be an inning-ending double-play and another missed opportunity for the Eagles. But Maxwell beat the throw to first, allowing Taddeo to score and pull the Eagles within a run. 

Aided by a pair of Manatee errors, Tallahassee tied the game in the eighth on Wilson's single to left. 

Brooks Buckler followed Marin's solid performance with three shutout innings of his own to earn the win. He allowed only one hit and one walk. 

Taddeo finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Wilson was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. 

Saturday's series final begins at 1 p.m. and can be seen live on TCCeagles.com.