Dawson Harman was crowned the FCSAA State Player of the Year on Thursday and on Friday showed why he is the best player in the state. Harman hit his school record breaking 23rd home run of the season in the top of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and propel the #6 seed College of Central Florida Patriots (37-16) to a 5-2 win over the #2 seed Gulf Coast State Commodores (35-15) in CF's opening game of the FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 final four tournament on Friday evening. Jay Jung improved to 6-2 on the season by tossing seven innings and allowing only five hits, two runs while striking out eight. Jose Paniagua earned his third save of the season by finishing out the last 1.1 innings allowing no runs, no hits, and striking out two. A Miles Curley RBI single and a solo home run by Marcus Bradshaw in the ninth inning gave the Pats some insurance runs late to finish off the Commodores.
The win keeps CF in the winner's bracket where they will match up against #1 seed Florida Southwestern State College (42-14) on Saturday at 5:00 PM at the Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida. FSW defeated the State College of Florida 14-7 on Friday to advance. Gulf Coast State College and State College of Florida (37-20) will meet at 1:00 Saturday in an elimination game.
