Central Florida 17, Daytona State 4 (BASE)

Central Florida muscled its way back into a share of first place on Friday at Goodlett Field, scoring an amazing 13 runs in the fourth inning alone en route to a 17-4, 7-inning rout of Daytona State.

CF prefaced its huge inning with a 4-run third inning, then batted around twice, rapped 10 hits and scored double digits in the emphatic fourth. Pitcher Michael Paulk kept the Falcons at bay while his teammates ran up the score, allowing just 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 innings.

All 9 starters had at least one hit and scored at least once as the Patriots did their considerable damage without the benefit of a home run. In fact, only 3 of CF's 19 hits were for extra bases, coming ondoubles by Casey Smit, Eric Green and Tito Mendoza.  Dru Jones led the offensive assault, going 4-for-5 with 4 RBIs and 3 runs scored. (Visit the CF Patriots YouTube channel for a pair of highlights from today's game.)

The win puts CF (24-13, 9-5 Mid-Florida Conference) back into a tie for first place in the MFC with 10 games to play. Next up is a visit to Seminole on Saturday, a make-up of Monday's rain-out.