LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Cardinal Baseball team opened the Florida swing of its spring trip on Tuesday (Mar. 3), facing the No. 18 ranked Florida Southern Moccasins in Lakeland, Florida. After falling behind early and trailing by nine runs to the Moccasins, Saginaw Valley fought back and had a chance to win it in the end before falling 10-8.  

The Mocs got out to an early 5-0 lead, putting up a five spot in the bottom of the 1st inning. Florida Southern added another pair in the 2nd inning, extending its lead to 7-0 over the Cardinals. 

Two more runs would come Florida Southern's way in the home half of the 3rd inning, making its lead 9-0 after three complete. 

In the top of the 5th, the Cards went for five runs to make the score 9-5. A Thomas Loftus single to right field scored Andrew Burke and Collin Winters followed behind with a run off an errant throw from the right fielder. Todd Paperd then tripled to clear the bags, pushing across Loftus and Austin Koin. The final run of the inning came when Brandon Scheurer had a sac fly that allowed Paperd to score.

A single Moccasin in the bottom of the 5th would make the score 10-5 and no other runs would be scored until the top of the 8th when the Cards tacked-on another pair to trim the deficit to 10-7. Loftus had a two-RBI single, scoring Winters and Jordan Klapko for the runs. 

The top of the 9th inning saw SVSU put the pressure on once again. SV loaded the bases with one out and got an RBI on a grounder from Klapko, who reached via an error by the shortstop. He scored Paperd on the play and that put the game's score at 10-8 with one out. The Mocs made a pitching change, however, and were able to get a strikeout and groundout to close out for the victory. 

Winters finished with four of the team's eight hits, scoring twice from the leadoff spot with a pair of doubles. Loftus finished with two hits and three RBI and Paperd added two hits, two RBI and a pair of runs. 

Dylan Golden (0-1) took the loss in the start. He pitched the first inning, allowing five runs (4 ER) on five hits with a strikeout and a walk. Eric Fritz worked 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and John Fantauzzo had one inning of scoreless ball later in the game.  

Up Next...

Saginaw Valley is off on Wednesday and picks up on Thursday in Auburndale, Florida. The Cardinals will face Saint Anselm at the Lake Myrtle Park. First pitch will be at 4:45 p.m.

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