BRADENTON, Fla. - NCF Baseball dropped a wild weekend series to Florida Memorial over the weekend, winning Game 1 and dropping Game 2 Friday at Braden River Little League and then dropping Games 3 and 4 Saturday at IMG Academy.

The Mighty Banyans are now 20-21 overall on the season and 6-13 in Sun Conference play.

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Game 1

New College of Florida defeated Florida Memorial 10-6 in Friday morning's series opener.

Florida Memorial struck first with a run in the first inning and added three more in the fourth to take a 4-0 lead.

New College answered in the fourth as Matthew Merk and Brian Garcia each hit home runs to cut the deficit to one. The Banyans carried that momentum into the fifth with back-to-back home runs from Fernando Espinal and Patrick Fink to take a 5-4 lead.

New College continued to add on in the sixth. Garcia drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Rylan Jomisko hit a two-run home run to extend the lead to 8-4.

The Banyans added two more in the eighth on a sacrifice fly from Brecken Fair and an RBI double from Jomisko to make it 10-4.

Florida Memorial scored twice in the ninth, but New College closed it out to secure the win.

Owen McKinley earned the win, allowing four runs over 7.1 innings with six strikeouts.

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Game 2

New College of Florida fell to Florida Memorial 5-1 in Game 2 of the series Friday in the seven-inning affair.

Michael Magliocca provided the early spark for the Banyans, launching a solo home run in the third inning to give New College a 1-0 lead.

Florida Memorial responded in the fifth inning as Armando Ramirez hit a two-run home run to put the Lions in front, 2-1.

The score remained tight until the seventh inning when Florida Memorial added insurance. Daniel Lopez delivered an RBI single before Ramirez struck again with his second two-run home run of the game to extend the lead to 5-1.

New College finished with six hits, including one each from Jomisko,  Fink, Wil Gregory, Dodig, Garcia and Magliocca.

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Game 3

New College of Florida fell to Florida Memorial 10-9 in Game 3 of the series Saturday.

Florida Memorial jumped out to an early lead, scoring twice in the first and adding two more in the second to take a 4-0 advantage.

New College responded in the second inning with a four-run frame.

Fink scored on an error, Gregory followed with an RBI, Jomisko drew a bases-loaded walk and Espinal capped the rally with an RBI single to tie the game at 4-4.

The Lions regained the lead in the sixth on a solo home run, but the Banyans answered in the eighth.

Magliocca delivered a three-run home run to give New College a 7-5 lead.

The Lions responded with a decisive ninth inning, scoring five runs to reclaim a 10-7 advantage.

New College made a late push in the bottom of the ninth. Luka Dodig was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring in a run, and Magliocca added an RBI groundout, but the rally fell short.

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Game 4

New College of Florida fell to Florida Memorial 17-13 in a high-scoring Game 4 as the Mighty Banyans picked up 20 hits yet still fell short.

Florida Memorial struck first with two runs in the opening inning, but New College answered throughout the early frames.

Magliocca drove in a run in the second before Espinal launched a two-run home run in the third to give the Banyans a 3-2 lead.

New College continued to build momentum, with Jomisko delivering a two-run single in the fourth and a three-run fifth inning highlighted by RBI hits from Fair, Jomisko and Espinal to extend the lead to 8-2.

Florida Memorial responded in the sixth with a four-run inning, capped by a three-run home run from Ramirez to cut the deficit to 8-6.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the seventh as Florida Memorial plated four runs to take a 10-8 lead before Magliocca's sacrifice fly brought New College within one at 10-9.

After Florida Memorial added two more in the eighth, Jomisko delivered another RBI single to make it 12-11 heading into the final inning.

The Lions broke the game open in the ninth, scoring five runs, including a bases-clearing double from Gregory Leal and an RBI triple from Lopez to extend the lead to 17-12.

New College added one final run in the bottom half on an RBI double from Dylan Bowen.

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Up Next: NCF will welcome Warner to IMG Academy for its final home series of the season next Saturday and Sunday.