AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The No. 24 Suffolk baseball suffered its second straight back as Washington (Mo.) defeated the Rams, 7-5, Thursday morning at Lake Myrtle Field apart of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

THE BASICS
SCORE: #24 Suffolk 5, Washington (Mo.) 7
RECORDS: #24 Suffolk (4-3) | Washington (Mo.) (8-5) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
A pitcher's duel was present for the first two innings before Washington broke open the scoring in the third with one run. The Rams responded in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. With one out on the board, Kevin Belskie's triple to right center brought home Luke Ronchi, who singled, to even the game at 1-all. An error by Bears' second baseman on Matt Brenner's at bat let Belskie come in for the go-ahead run. 

Suffolk stretched its lead to two in the next inning. BJ Neil tripled down the right line to get things going and a sac fly from Brady Chant brought the senior second baseman in to make it a 3-1 Rams game. 

The score flipped in Washington's favor with a three-run sixth inning and the Bears gained a two-run margin after bringing another run in in the seventh. 

After a scoreless eighth, the Bears stretched their lead to 7-3 and Suffolk had to play catch. The Rams loaded the bases with thanks to an error by Washington's shortstop followed by back-to-back singles from Belskie and Seth Coiley. The Bears brought in fresh arm Matt Clohisy, who retired Brenner and Kevin Higgins swinging. Connor Troio kept the Rams hopes alive with a single up the middle that plated Ronchi and Belskie to trim the deficit to two. With the tying runs on base, Neil could not connect as the senior went down swinging, sealing the Bears' 7-5 winning fate. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Belskie paced Suffolk at the plate with a 3-for-4 effort featuring one RBI and two runs scored.
• Troio went 1-for-2 as a pinch hitter with two RBI.
• Coiley (1-3), Neil (1-4) and Ronchi (1-4) accounted for Suffolk's other three hits in a seven-hit day for the Rams.
• Ronchi scored twice for the blue-and-gold with Neil adding one run. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Worth Walrod moved to 1-1 on the bump for the Rams with the junior southpaw dueling 7.0 innigns, letting up five runs, three earned, on nine hits and struck out five hitters.
• Tyler Zell came on in relief, going the final 2.0 innings. The sophomore allowed two runs on one hit and sat down on batter.
• Brad Margolin went 8.0 innings on the hill for the Bears, giving up five runs, three earned, on six hits and punched out 12 batters.
• Matt Clohisy wrapped up the game for Washington on the hill. In the final inning, he gave up one single hit and sat down three batters. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Troio's first collegiate hit came in a big moment, bringing in two runs in the final inning for Suffolk. 

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT
Suffolk, who has two days remaining on its Spring Break trip, looks to return to win column tomorrow afternoon as it takes on Rutgers Camden.