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Manatee Blasts South Florida

Highlands Today file photo

South Florida is home tonight with a conference game against Hillsborough with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.

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Highlands Today staff report

Published: March 27, 2009

BRADENTON - Manatee banged out 23 hits and took advantage of 10 walks to roll past South Florida Community College by a score of 20-10 in Suncoast Conference baseball on Wednesday night.

"It wasn't pretty," said SFCC coach Rick Hitt. "Our pitchers weren't aggressive and we also made a couple of mistakes in the field.

"Manatee is a real good team and they don't need any help, but we provided them with several opportunities and they took advantage of them."

Austin Gaines and Jerry Neufang homered in the loss, which dropped the Panthers to 24-14 overall and 5-7 in Suncoast conference action.

"It came down to our inability to throw strikes," said Hitt. "That's uncharacteristic of our pitching staff after a couple of back-to-back complete games."

South Florida is home tonight with a conference game against Hillsborough with the first pitch set for 6 p.m.

"Our pitchers need to get back to being aggressive and throwing strikes," said Hitt. "We're swinging the bats pretty well, but we need to combine that with solid pitching."

The Highlands Today sports department can be reached at 863-386-3841 or sports@highlandstoday.com.

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