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The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs lost both games against the DeLand Suns 6-2 and 4-3 at Conrad Park on Saturday night as the Dawgs were swept and lost their first series since June 8.

In game one, Winter Park was held to just one run over 5 ⅔ fantastic innings from Zane Wright (Polk State College) as he struck out six batters.

Sam Downey (Stetson) and Sam Tanous (Saint Peter’s) were two of the only bright spots offensively as both had good games at the plate. Downey went 1-for-2 with an RBI to continue his hot streak. Tanous went 2-for-2 as he lined two hard-hit balls to right field.

On the pitching side, Tyler Mecchella (Presbyterian) threw four great innings allowing two hits and just one unearned run with five strikeouts. Steven Sams (Middle Georgia State) got roughed up in the fifth inning, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks in just ⅔ of an inning.

Fisher Sheffield (Keystone) did very well in his first outing with Winter Park. He tossed 2 ⅓ scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk.

The defense let the Dawgs down in the first game. Coming into Saturday, Winter Park had made just 19 errors in 20 games but made four in the game and gave up five unearned runs.

In game two, the Dawgs’ bats showed up in the first inning, but not much after that. Downey lined a leadoff triple into left-center to begin the ballgame. Then, Maverick Stallings (Old Dominion), Isaac Nunez (Southeastern) and Amai Rivera-Martinez (Saint Leo) all had singles as Winter Park jumped ahead 3-0.

In the seven-inning game, the Dawgs left 11 runners on base, including the bases loaded in the first and third innings. The third was Winter Park’s best chance to extend its lead, but came out scoreless. The Dawgs had the bases loaded with no outs and the next three batters all struck out.

“It really bit us today,” Winter Park head coach Jim Newlin said after the game. “That [third] inning when we had the bases loaded and nobody out, we had to put balls in play. We just weren’t up for it today.”

Even with the lack of production with runners on base, the Dawgs had a chance to tie the game or take the lead in the top of the seventh. Joel Collado (Rhode Island) came up with two outs and runners on the corners but was set down on strikes to end the game.

“We got off to such a good start with three in the first and actually should have scored a couple more,” Newlin said. “But, the last six innings, I think we had maybe one hit and that’s what really did us in.”

After the doubleheader sweep, the Dawgs are now 9-13 on the season. They will have a day off on Sunday before a three-game homestand against Leesburg, Orlando and Sanford. Monday’s matchup will be against the Leesburg Lightning. Winter Park was swept in the previous three-game series against Leesburg but will look for revenge on Monday with the first pitch set for 6 p.m. ET at Alfond Stadium.

Hugh Green (University of Florida)