DeLand, Fla. - The DeLand Suns (11-18) secured their second run-rule victory within their last three games, as they routed the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs 8-0 (6-25) in seven innings.

Mattox Meeks (Florida Gulf Coast) was lights out on the mound. He pitched five innings of shutout baseball, only allowing four hits and one walk. Meeks also tied his season high of strikeouts with seven. The FGCU product struggled in his first two innings of work, with the Dawgs reaching second and third in both frames. Meeks was able to get a feel for his breaking ball and induce weak contact to strand all the baserunners. He went on to see no more than four batters in frame and struck out the side in order in the fourth. Meeks earned his first win of the season with his stellar performance and now holds a 1.50 ERA. 

“Mattox was outstanding. There was some traffic early, he settled in and got himself out of some jams with the breaking ball.” - Coach Cameron Jergens

The Suns were able to put up eight thanks to some timely hitting. Winter Park notched seven hits as opposed to DeLand’s four, but struggled in bringing their runners in. The Suns struck first in the third with Holden Brauner (Undecided) collecting a leadoff single, he eventually advanced all the way to third after a hit-by-pitch and a walk loaded the bases. A groundout double-play scored the outfielder to put DeLand on the board.

The scoring continued in the fourth, consecutive walks and a groundout placed Aris Rivera (Florida International) and Connor O’Sullivan (Undecided) in scoring position. Brauner was hit by a pitch to load the bases. A dropped third strike allowed Joshua Valene (Brewton Parker) to reach first safely, with Rivera also scoring on the play. Eli Tidwell followed with a rocket that reached the right-field wall, scoring O’Sullivan and Brauner to make it a 4-0 ballgame. 

Four more scored in the fifth. Gavin Thomas led off and reached via a hit-by-pitch. Rivera and O’Sullivan worked consecutive walks to load the bases once again. With no outs and the bases loaded, Osmin Melendez (Undecided) worked a bases loaded walk to record his first RBI of the game. With Melendez’s walk, all DeLand starters had successfully reached base in the contest. With the bases still loaded and only one out, Junilla roped a single to center field to score Rivera and O’Sullivan. Melendez soon scored off a wild pitch to cap DeLand’s scoring,increasing their lead to eight.

Stephen Cherepenya (Rollins) closed out the game. Putting in two innings of work, striking out three and only allowing three to reach.

The Suns had a leadoff baserunner in every frame they batted in and worked a total of ten walks in the contest.

The DeLand Suns are back in action on Tuesday, June 15 as they face the Winter Garden Squeeze in a double header at Conrad Park.

Adrian Delgado (UCF)