3/5/13- The FCC Suns baseball team split their doubleheader yesterday with Ave Maria University, taking the opener 4-0, before dropping the close second game, 5-4. With the win the Suns finish their 5-game season series with the Gyrenes by taking the series, three games to two. This result is significant for the young FCC baseball program, in only its second year of existence; because the Gyrenes entered the day with an 18-5 record, including an impressive 8-1 record and in a tie for first place in the Sun Conference- one of the top NAIA baseball conferences in the country. “The NAIA baseball poll doesn't begin until the end of March, but there is a reasonable chance that Ave Maria would be considered a Top 25 team now in the NAIA”, stated Suns Head Coach, Jon Copeland. “We saw their top weekend pitchers during our 5-game series with them. For us to be able to successfully compete with top NAIA programs at this point in our existence is indicative of the level of hard work and commitment on the part of our players and coaches”.

The Suns were the recipient of strong pitching performances from Stephen Reyes (Fr., Miami, FL), in just in first college start, pitching 5 complete shutout innings and Angel Domenech (Fr., Miami, FL) who finished the game with two shutout innings of work to pick up his first college save. In the second game, Taylor Cornelius (Fr., Bartow, FL) was given a 4-1 lead, but the Gyrenes were able to score 3 runs in the 3rd inning and tie the score and eventually win the game by one run. The Suns were led at the plate by Ramon Cedeno (Fr., Osceola, FL) who collected three hits and two RBI’s on the day, including a home run in the win; Mark Vidal (So., Orlando, FL) with three hits, and Casey Elkins (Jr., Ocala, FL) with two RBI’s. FCC is back on the field this Friday when they begin a 3-game series at 2pm at Tinker Field against Toccoa Falls College.