Late Surge Sends Suns to Fifth Straight Loss

The DeLand Suns carried a lead into the seventh inning Saturday night, but a six-run outburst by the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs turned the game around and completed a three-game sweep with an 8-4 victory at Alfond Stadium.

DeLand struck first for the second consecutive game, breaking through in the third inning. With runners on the corners, Boomer Rogozinski (Stetson) grounded into a fielder's choice that scored Richard Collazo (Eastern Florida State). A few batters later, Torin Foley (Embry-Riddle) singled to center field to bring home Rogozinski and extend the Suns' lead to 2-0.

The Suns maintained that advantage through four innings thanks to a strong outing from Jackson Clark (Navy). Clark faced just two batters over the minimum through four innings while recording four strikeouts. He ran into trouble in the fifth after issuing back-to-back walks to open the frame, and one of those runners eventually scored to trim the lead to 2-1.

Clark exited after 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on one hit while walking four and striking out four.

DeLand added to its lead in the seventh when head coach Stephen Piercefield turned to a pinch hitter to lead off the inning. Marco Gonzales (Saint Leo) responded by launching a solo home run to left-center field for his first hit of the season and the Suns' first home run of the year, making it 3-1.

Winter Park answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning.

The Diamond Dawgs sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six runs on four hits. The first four hitters reached base, and before DeLand recorded an out, the game was tied at 3-3. Later in the inning, a three-run homer gave Winter Park its first lead of the night and capped the decisive rally.

Winter Park added another run in the eighth inning to extend its advantage to 8-3.

The Suns scored once more in the ninth but could not overcome the deficit. DeLand finished with nine hits — four more than Winter Park — but stranded eight runners on base.

With the loss, DeLand fell to 1-5 on the season, while Winter Park improved to 5-3.

The Suns will look to get back on track following a much-needed off day when they travel to face the Orlando Snappers on June 8.

J.C. Fox (Mississippi Christian University)