Eagles pick up home conference win against Gulf Coast State

TALLAHASSEE, FL (March 22^nd, 2022) – Tallahassee moved to 2-3 in conference play after an 11-6 victory over visiting Gulf Coast State on Tuesday night. The Eagles were back in action after a spring break doubleheader against Thomas University JV and a weekend off. 

Ethan Firoved (Fr., LHP) got the start for the seventh time this season and picked up his sixth victory after working 5.2 innings, allowing five runs, and striking out eight. Hunter Parris (So., LHP) finished off the sixth inning, stranding the bases loaded and preserving the team's 7-5 lead. Parris went on to pitch the next three innings, picking up his second save of the year. 

"It's big when they're putting up runs," said Parris about the run support provided by his teammates, "it's easy to go out there, throw strikes, and do your job. 

That run support started in the very first inning, when the Eagles scored four runs on five hits, including back-to-back home runs from Andrew Fernandez (So., INF) and Ziggy Thomas (Fr., OF). Fernandez's home run put him back in sole possession of the team lead with four. 

When asked if the team's strategy was to come out and swing early in the first inning, head coach Mike McLeod said, "If you look at his numbers, he throws a lot of strikes. I told the guys, get a pitch middle-up in the zone and hammer it."

Josh Pigozzo (So., OF) and Ziggy Thomas each recorded three hits in the victory and combined for five runs batted in. Pigozzo leads the team with 39 hits and a .385 batting average.

The Eagles take on Gulf Coast State at home again on Thursday, before traveling to Panama City for two more games against the Commodores this weekend. Thursday's game is scheduled to start at 5:00 P.M. and will be streamed here.