FORT PIERCE, FL -- The Franklin & Marshall baseball team opened its spring break trip in Fort Pierce, Florida with a 3-1 mark as the Diplomats have knocked off Alvernia (13-12 W), the University of Scranton (5-3 W) and Keystone (3-1 W) but fell to SUNY-New Paltz (8-6 L).
Against Alvernia, Chris Smith (So., Fairfax Station, VA/Robinson) went one-for-three with two runs scored, two walks and a pair of RBIs, while Scott Haft (Jr., Jupiter, FL/Jupiter) went two-for-three with a run scored, two RBI and a walk as the Diplomats rallied from a 12-6 deficit in the bottom of the sixth for seven runs and a 13-12 victory.
Starter John Walsh (Sr., Havertown, PA/Haverford) took a no-decision going four two-thirds innings while allowing 10 runs on 10 hits with four strikeouts, while reliever Jeremy Knox (So., Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) took the win with one and one-third of an inning with two hits and two runs allowed. Closer Pete Maki (Sr., Woodbury, CT/Noonewaug) earned the save allowing one hit with a strikeout in one inning of work.
New-Paltz handed F&M its first loss of spring break with an 8-6 victory behind two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Trailing 4-0 after one inning, the Diplomats fell behind by five runs in the third as New-Paltz tacked on another run. F&M closed the gap to one run in the top of the fifth with four runs, but the lead grew back to two runs in the bottom of the inning. F&M knotted the score at 6-6 in the top of the sixth, but SUNY-New Paltz picked up the win with one hit and two runs off reliever Todd Cagwin (So., Fayetteville, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) in the bottom of the sixth to take the win.
The Diplomats got back on track against Keystone as Ted Serro (So., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier) went six innings allowing five hits and one run while striking out six as F&M rolled to a 3-1 victory. At the plate, Haft went one for three with two RBI off a double in the second inning and a run scored to pace the Diplomats' offense. Later in the day, F&M improved to 3-1 on the trip with a 5-3 victory over Scranton.
Trailing 3-2 after two innings, F&M rallied for two runs in the top of the third inning before tacking on a pair of insurance runs in the fourth inning for the win. At the plate, Dan Weber (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) went three-for-four with two RBI and Rob Georgiou (Sr., Tappan, NY/Bergen Catholic) batted two-for-four with one run and an RBI to pace the Diplomats.
F&M (6-5, 0-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on March 17 versus Kenyon College in Fort Pierce, Florida.
