Florida Memorial holds on for 7-5 baseball victory over SCAD

Michael F. MacEachern, SCAD Sports Information Director
4/13/2007

GARDEN CITY, Ga. — Florida Memorial University led by as many as five runs before holding on for a 7-5 Florida Sun Conference victory over the Savannah College of Art and Design in the first of a three-game baseball series Friday (April 13) afternoon at Chain Field.

The Lions improved to 10-28 overall and to 4-10 in the conference while the Bees dropped their fifth consecutive game and fell to 20-22 and 7-9. The teams wrap up the series with a noon doubleheader Saturday (April 14).

Florida Memorial jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning off SCAD starter Richard Sullivan (3-6). Renyal Gonzalez led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Prats.  Roger Thomas stroked an RBI double to right before catcher Amed Mena connected on his first homer of the season—a two-run blast to left.

The Lions pushed across another run in the third on an RBI single by Gonzalez before the Bees got a run back in their half of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Drew Bridewell. SCAD cut the deficit in half at 4-2 on Matt Cox’s run-scoring single through the right side in the fifth.

Florida Memorial pushed two runs across the seventh on a ground out by Vasilios Mila and a RBI single by Gonzalez. The Lions took a 7-2 lead in the ninth on a RBI double by Gonzalez. SCAD mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth as they scored three times. Sullivan drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Lazaro Chambrot, who earned his first save, before Mark Stewart followed with a two-run single to right-center field to close within 7-5. Chambrot got pinch hitter Seth Carswell out a called third strike with the tying runs in scoring position to end the game.

Pedro Jiminez (3-4) earned the win as he scattered five hits and struck out seven in six innings of work.