Pioneers Drop Two More in a Row

BRADENTON, FL - The Pioneers headed to Bradenton, Florida at State College of Florida - Manatee for a round robin series with Gulf Coast State College and Miami-Dade College.

First up was the seven inning game against Gulf Coast State. The Commodores defeated Indian River 12-2  thanks in part to eight runs in the fifth inning.

Indian River got on the board in the top of the first inning after freshman Brett Patten hits his first career home run. After the first, the Pioneers bats went cold being the only runs the Pioneers put together. Gulf Coast ended up taking the lead in the fourth inning and didn't look back following that up with an eight run fifth that would end the game.

Angelo Smith started on the mound for the Pioneers. The University of Central Florida commit gave up five hits and four runs over three and a third of innings, striking out five. Sammy Beir, a sophomore transfer from Florida Atlantic University, ended up taking the loss in his first appearance for the Pioneers. Brett Patten ended up having another great game adding to his hot start.

With only a few hours inbetween the Pioneers looked to bounce back against Miami-Dade College. Indian River lost to Miami Dade 15-12 making them 0-3. Despite the loss, Indian River did collect nine hits in a high scoring affair.

Redshirt sophomore Cade Drohan got to toe the rubber against former Southern Conference rival Miami Dade. The Virginia Tech commit gave up three hits and six runs (two earned) over three innings over work. Doing most of the damage at the plate was Florida Atlantic University commit Danny Baez having three hits and second year man Matthew Rubin having multiple hits as well. Freshman Jason Lashley collected his first career mulita hit game and freshman Brett Patten extends his hit streak to three.

The Pioneers battled all night long erasing an early 6-1 lead for the Sharks and a strong effort by right-handed freshman pitcher Justin Minaberry in relief giving up zero runs over three innings. However, the late offensive push wasn't enough to get the first win of the year. With the loss the Pioneers drop to 0-3.

Pioneers are back in action tomorrow, Sunday January 28, against the host State College of Florida.

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