OCALA-- A quartet of CF baseball pitchers record 16 strike outs in 8-3 rout of Hillsborough Community College on Monday afternoon at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. The Patriots improve to 2-1 with the win.

The Hawks got out to an early 1-0 lead after the first inning, but CF sophomore first baseman Nolan Machibroda answered with a RBI single to left field to even the score.

CF took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth after sophomore third baseman Ricky Presno scored on a passed ball, but HCC countered with two runs of its own to go ahead by one.

But it was all Patriots from there.

Presno drove in the go ahead runs in the top of the sixth with a two RBI single to right. Two batters later, Machibroda delivered a RBI single to center for his second RBI of the afternoon.

The Patriots would go on to drive in three more insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings before the game was called after eight complete innings due to darkness. 

Sophomore left-handed pitcher Brandon Knarr, a transfer from the University of Notre Dame, got his first start on the mound for the Patriots. Knarr allowed just one earned run on five hits and struck out 10 in four innings of work before giving way to a trio of Patriot relievers. Brendan Bell, Brenden Kudlinski and Francisco Mateo didn't allow an earned run and just one hit while striking out six in four innings of relief. 

Presno finished 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and a run scored, while Machibroda went 2-for-3 with two RBI.

CF will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts Warner University JV at 3 p.m.