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Panthers Hammer Hawks

Mark Pinson, Highlands Today

SFCC outfielder Ethan Lovell is congratulated as rounds third base after hitting his first collegiate home run against Hillsborough on Friday at Panther Field.

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By MARK PINSON Highlands Today

Published: March 29, 2009

Updated:

AVON PARK - If you like high-scoring baseball, then the brand South Florida Community College plays is for you.

The Panthers banged out 17 hits en route to a 14-11 win over Hillsborough Community College in a Suncoast conference game on Friday night.

South Florida built an early six-run lead to take control of the game, but four Panther errors allowed Hillsborough, which also had 17 hits, back in the contest.

"It was a typical conference game," said SFCC coach Rick Hitt. "Both clubs swung the bats well, but we had a chance to put them away early and we made some mistakes to give them life.

"It was a good win for us and I'm proud of the way the guys kept battling, but we have to cut down on our mistakes."

South Florida took advantage of a pair of walks, an error and a couple of hits to take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.

Hillsborough got on the board in the top of the second inning on a solo homer by designated hitter James Mallard.

The Panthers answered in the bottom of the inning when first baseman Blake Holliday lined a one-out single to right field and leadoff batter Ethan Lovell followed with a high blast over the left-field fence for his first collegiate home run.

"I was mad because I thought I had popped it up," Lovell said. "It felt good to hit a home run, but the wind helped a lot because I'm not a power hitter.

"My job is to get on base any way I can and let the real power hitters do their thing."

The Hawks scored two runs in the top of the third inning on a hit, an error and an RBI single by Mallard to trim their deficit to 5-3.

South Florida answered in a big way as Austin Gaines singled, Jerry Neufang singled and Chaz Abeln roped an RBI double down the left-field line.

Holliday delivered a run-scoring single and a two more runs scored on a Hillsborough error and a fielder's choice ground out to give the Panthers a commanding 9-3 lead.

That was more than enough for Abeln, as the sophomore right-hander scattered 12 hits and struck out four in his eight innings of work to earn the win.

"Once we got the lead I was just trying to pound the strike zone and let my defense work for me," said Abeln. "Our offense did a great job of swinging the bats and putting up some runs.

"We know that no lead is safe in this conference because all the teams can swing the bats and we have to do a better job of closing teams out."

SFCC tacked on three runs in the fifth and another in the seventh.

Abeln, who developed some stiffness in the back of his right knee, was taken out after the eighth inning and Leo Chang came on in relief.

Chang got one out, but Hillsborough rallied as Mallard blasted his second homer of the night and four consecutive hits plated two more runs and brought the go-ahead run to the plate.

Gaines came on with the bases loaded and the hard-throwing right-hander struck out the next two Hawk batters to seal the hard-fought win.

"Chaz threw a good game and we're fortunate that Austin came in and was able to close the door for us," said Hitt. "Austin has a lot of intestinal fortitude and he wants the ball when it counts."

The win improved the Panthers to 25-14, 6-7 and tied with Hillsborough for second place in the conference behind Manatee.

"Manatee is leading, but the rest of us are bunched up," said Hitt. "This conference is so competitive and we know it's going to be a dogfight right down to the last game of the season."

SFCC was at Hillsborough on Saturday and for the score be sure to check out Monday's Highlands Today sports section.

Mark Pinson can be reached at 863-386-5837 or mpinson@highlandstoday.com

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