Baseball team opens series on the road Thursday

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team will open a three-game Citrus Conference series with Santa Fe on Thursday afternoon.

The Titans, who are 6-6 in the conference and 16-10 overall, will open the series at Santa Fe College with the Saints coming to Bruce Bochy Field Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.

Santa Fe comes into the series 5-7 in the conference and 12-15 overall. The Saints come into the series hitting .306 this season which is seventh best in the FCSAA. Ryan Chase is hitting .392 in 27 games while teammate Robert Nedry is hitting .390 in 22 games.

 The Titans will send Owen Simmons to the mound on Thursday to make his eighth start of the season. The sophomore is second in the FCSAA in ERA with a 1.89. Simmons is also tied for third in the state in wins with four and has 37 strikeouts in 38 innings.

Offensively, sophomore Kevin Smith leads the FCSAA with 31 stolen bases and is hitting .355 with three doubles and three home runs. Shane Thomas is hitting .367 in 18 games this season.

The series opener will begin at 3 p.m. at Santa Fe College.