Baseball / Suns Win Fourth Straight

Suns Win Fourth Straight

Date:  Source: Florida Collegiate Summer League

DELAND, Fla.- The DeLand Suns won their fourth consecutive contest on Monday afternoon, cruising past the Sanford River Rats, 6-3 at Melching Field. The Suns, who have lost just once this season in DeLand, moved to 9-3 with the victory, while the River Rats fell to 4-8.

DeLand never trailed on Monday, powered by a three-run third inning. With one out in the frame, the Suns loaded the bases on a Joe Burke (Kentucky Wesleyan) single, a Robert Bell (Bethune Cookman) walk, and an error. Burke crossed the plate on a wild pitch, and Rodrigo Montenegro (St. Pete College) drove in Bell and Hunter Fornari (FGCU) with a single, giving the Suns a 3-0 lead through three innings.

Both teams scored a run in the fourth, keeping DeLand's lead at three runs. An RBI single from Beau Bratton (New Orleans) got the River Rats on the board in the top half, but the Suns were able to leave the bases loaded to keep the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, the Suns again loaded the bases, and scored their fourth run of the game on a bases loaded walk to Bell.

Sanford pulled within two runs in the top of the sixth, cutting the DeLand lead to 4-3. Jarrod Cande (Florida Southern) led off the inning with a double, and was driven in by Bratton on a single. Jackson Muldowney (Indian River State) then drove in Connor Allen (UCF) with a single, but Bratton was thrown out at third trying to advance. Muldowney, who represented the tying run, was stranded at third to end the inning. 

The Suns put the Rats away in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs of their own. A walk to Tim Dixon (Little Rock), a single by Jeffrey Omohundro (Maine), and a walk to Burke again loaded the bases for DeLand. Bell drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to center field, which was dropped and kept the bases loaded. Fornari completed the day's scoring with an RBI single.

Tyler Jones (Winthrop) came on in relief in the first inning, and proceeded to throw through the fifth inning to earn the win. Brandon Castle (Eckerd) followed Jones with three scoreless innings of work, and Brady Choban (Marshall) worked a 1-2-3 inning to pick up his second save of the season.

The teams are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday night, with the scene shifting to Sanford Memorial Stadium. The Suns will look to sweep the Rats in the two-game series, and run their record against Sanford to 4-1 on the season. First pitch in Sanford is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.