Baseball team home Thursday for conference game

The Eastern Florida State College baseball team will be back home for the opener of a conference series with Florida Southwestern State College on Thursday.

The Titans, who are 7-8 in the Citrus Conference, will host Florida Southwestern Thursday evening at 5 p.m. at Bruce Bochy Field. The Bucs are second in the conference standings at 10-5 and are ranked fifth in the latest NJCAA Division I National poll.

Florida Southwestern comes into the contest leading the FCSAA in runs scored with 269 and are second in the state in home runs with 32. The team is hitting .334 in 31 games. On the mound, the Bucs come in with a team ERA of 3.91 and lead the FCSAA with 293 strikeouts.

Eastern Florida State College is hitting .299 this season and are second in the state in stolen bases with 85. Centerfielder Kevin Smith leads the FCSAA with 31 stolen bases this season, hitting .340 as the leadoff hitter for the Titans. Teammate Gustavo Mendez has a nine-game hit streak and is hitting .365 this season.

Sophomore Owen Simmons will take the mound for the Titans and is third in the FCSAA with a 2.23 ERA in eight starts. Simmons has struck out 42 in 44 1/3 innings and has a complete game.

The game will begin at 5 p.m. and admission is free to games at Bruce Bochy Field. Fans can also watch the game live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.