MELBOURNE, Fla. (Baseball) – Florida Tech (3-0) erased an early two-run deficit by scoring five runs in the fourth inning and tacking on seven more in its 12-3 win against Claflin (0-3) Sunday afternoon at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. The win completed a series sweep of Claflin after FIT won Saturday 12-4 and 11-3.

Brian Flynn went 3-for-4 at the plate on Sunday with three RBIs. K.C. Clabough also drove in three runs and added two hits. James Mannara (1-0) picked up the win, throwing four innings and giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits and two walks, while striking out three. Dylan Reid, Scotty Ward and Steven Schils made their first appearance as Panthers in relief. The three combined to allow one run, it was unearned, on four hits and no walks in five innings.

“It’s always tough to get a sweep,” head coach Greg Berkemeier said. “We kind of started a little slow and their starting pitcher was doing a good job of keeping us off balance. We weren’t being as selective and disciplined as we wanted to be in the beginning of the game. We made some adjustments and received some big knocks from (Kevin) Wortman, (K.C.) Clabough and (Ryan) Coward. I thought the two freshmen arms (Dylan Reid and Scotty Ward) threw the ball very well especially with today being their first outing. Hopefully, we can expect more of those outings from them.”  

Faced with a two-run deficit in the fourth inning, the Panthers scored five runs with two outs. Kevin Wortman came through with a two-run RBI single to left field to put his team up 5-2.

FIT added three insurance runs in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth to seal the win.

Berkemeier and Co. will have four days to prepare for their first road game of the season at Valdosta State on Friday at 4 p.m. They will then return to Melbourne to play a doubleheader against the Blazers Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m.