(Box Score) (Box Score 2)
TALLADEGA, Ala. ( Feb. 10, 2023) – Florida National University’s baseball team bounced back in a big way for a 1-1 record versus the Talladega College Tornadoes. The Tornadoes (5-1) have been on a tear in the early goings of the 2023 season, boasting a 4-0 record entering Friday’s back-to-back games. The Conquistadors (1-1) were on the hunt for their first win and pulled through despite a rough first game.
The Conquistadors commanded a two-run lead after the top of the second in game one. Yordangel Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and waited patiently at first base before a home run bomb by Alejandro De Arazoza marked a 2-0 lead for the Conquistadors.
What followed was a stunning nine-run, five-hit second inning for the storming Tornadoes. Five Talladega batters were walked in the inning before Isaac Guzman was mercifully grounded out at third base for the final out of the second with the Tornadoes up 9-2
In the third, FNU put up two more runs, as Jose Carpena scored on a throwing error by the catcher. Jordan Lewis scored FNU’s final run of the ball game in the third as the Conquistadors closed out the game and turned their attention to game two.
FNU rattled off three runs and four hits to start the contest. Jordan Lewis got the party started with a single RBI homer to right center field. Matthew Gonzalez collected the second run of the inning as De Arazoza’s double to right center sent Gonzalez in for the final Conquistador score of the first. The second saw more of the same for FNU with Carpena and Gonzalez putting up a run apiece as the Conquistadors collected two hits leaving two runners on base.
A two-run homer from the Torndoes made things interesting at the bottom of the third but Gino Bellantoni put another run on the board in the sixth. In the seventh, another two-run homer from the Tornadoes put them just in reach of making a comeback before Talladega’s Rafael Diaz was struck out swinging to end the game.
Up Next: FNU baseball takes on day two of the battle in Talladega with a doubleheader versus the Tornadoes starting at 11 a.m.
