Across three states Saturday afternoon, the story followed a similar script: early momentum, competitive stretches — and one decisive inning that ultimately swung the outcome.
In Boca Raton, Spartanburg, and Macon, local Division I programs showed flashes. But each was undone by a late surge they couldn’t fully recover from.
In Florida, Villanova struck first but couldn’t survive one explosive inning from Florida Atlantic in an 11-5 loss at FAU Baseball Stadium.
The Wildcats (2-5) grabbed early momentum in the third. JoJo Montgomery singled through the right side and stole second before Lawrence Hotaling doubled him home for a 1-0 lead. After Austin Lemon advanced Hotaling to third, Michael Whooley lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
That early edge, however, quickly disappeared.
Florida Atlantic answered in the bottom half of the inning when Nick Romano launched a three-run homer after two hit batters reached. The Owls added an unearned run in the fifth to stretch the lead to 4-2.
The game turned decisively in the sixth. FAU strung together six hits, capitalizing on singles, hit batters, a wild pitch, and a throwing error to plate seven runs and build an 11-2 cushion.
Villanova showed late fight. Lemon singled and Whooley walked before John Freitag delivered a two-run double in the eighth. The Wildcats added another run in the ninth on Whooley’s second sacrifice fly.
Villanova finished with six hits, including doubles from Hotaling, Collin Quintano, and Freitag. But the seven-run sixth proved insurmountable.
Several hours north in South Carolina, Saint Joseph’s authored a mid-game rally of its own — but faced a similar fate.
The Hawks (2-7) fell 10-6 to Wofford after erasing most of an early deficit, only to see the Terriers respond late.
Wofford (8-2) broke through with five runs in the third inning. Saint Joseph’s answered in the fourth when Joey Gale laid down a bunt single to score Joey Pagano after Jack Saker had worked a bases-loaded walk.
Trailing 6-1 entering the seventh, the Hawks mounted their strongest push of the afternoon. Gale singled to start the inning before Alex Kelsey doubled him home. Jason Janesko followed with a single, Blake Primrose walked to load the bases, and Pagano delivered a two-run double. Richard Beggy’s sacrifice fly trimmed the deficit to 6-5.
Momentum had shifted — briefly.
But Wofford answered with a three-run homer in the eighth to regain separation.
Gale finished with three hits, two RBIs, and a walk. Kelsey and Pagano each had two hits, while Christian Coppola provided four strong innings of relief, allowing one run and striking out seven.
Meanwhile in Georgia, Penn experienced a nearly identical swing.
The Quakers (0-5) briefly took control before Mercer used a three-run fifth inning to claim a 5-3 win at OrthoGeorgia Park.
Qwynn Ahearn delivered the game’s biggest swing for Penn in the fourth, launching a two-run homer to right-center to give the Quakers a 2-0 lead. Mercer answered immediately when Nathan Rowland connected on a two-run shot in the bottom half.
An inning later, the Bears created their separation. After loading the bases, Titan Kamaka lifted a sacrifice fly before Kaleb Huffman lined a two-run single to left-center, pushing Mercer ahead 5-2.
Penn chipped away in the sixth when Jarrett Pokrovsky singled and Connor McCabe doubled ahead of an RBI single from Ahearn, who finished with three RBIs.
Nick Spaventa went 2-for-2 with a double and two walks, while Jay Secretarski extended his hitting streak to five games. Freshmen Nick Newburn and Ben Moulin combined for 3.2 scoreless innings in relief, keeping Penn within striking distance.
But Mercer reliever Collin Ewaldsen shut the door in the ninth.
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