WINTER PARK, Fla. (February 20, 2026) - The baseball team showed off their power stroke, winning the SSC series opener against rival Florida Southern by a score of 9-5. The win, the fifth straight for the Tars, moves them to 7-4 on the year with a 1-0 record in SSC play. The Moccasins drop to 4-9, 0-1 SSC.
The Mocs struck early in this one. After
Noah Greenseid struck out the first batters, the next four batters reached base, including a two RBI single from Cory Filley.
Down 2-0 early, the Tars were not worried at all.
Joey Rubin immediately gave the lineup a boost with an absolute nuke to center field to lead off the inning.
Collin Hughes was hit by a pitch,
Michael Furry singled, and then
Matthew Mateo followed up with a bomb to right field to make the score 4-2.
Greenseid put the Mocs down in order in the second, and received an insurance run in the second when Mateo brought home Furry with a sharp single to left.
After a couple of quiet innings, Southern added one to their tally with a solo shot from Mikey Scott. The Tars got the run back in the sixth when Rubin walked with the bases loaded to make it 6-3.
AJ Seymour took over on the mound in the seventh, and put the Mocs down in order. They did grab another run in the eighth to pull within two, but Rollins had the answer in the bottom half.
Jayden Brown doubled, and moved to third on a wild pitch. He was promptly plated by
Stephen Deans' single to left. Deans then moved to second on another wild pitch, and scored when
Mauri Bejarano ripped a single to right. Two batters later, Hughes doubled off the right field wall to score Bejarano, making it 9-4.
Florida Southern made it interesting with a solo home run in the ninth, but Seymour locked in, getting the next three batters out to secure the three-inning save, his first of the year.
Mateo recorded two hits and four RBI in the game. Hughes stretched his hitting streak to seven games with his RBI double. Brown, who was celebrating his birthday, collected two hits and scored twice.
Greenseid struck out four in four innings in the no decision.
Mark Loubier earned the win with two innings on the mound.
The two teams will be back in action on Saturday, February 21 with a doubleheader. First pitch of game is scheduled for 11am at Alfond Stadium.
