OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The College of Central Florida Patriots (27-15, 18-6) bounced back nicely on the afternoon of Saturday, April 4, 2026, with a doubleheader sweep of the Hillsborough College Hawks (22-20, 11-13) after having been shutout by the Hawks 3-0 on Thursday in Tampa. The Pats defeated the Hawks 6-4 and 9-2 in Ocala to remain in first place in the Citrus Conference.

It was a special day at the ballpark as the Patriots hosted the Ocala Rotary Sportsplex Baseball Organization for a day of fun, raffle prizes, and an opportunity for the youth players to take the field for the national anthem with the Patriot players.

In game one CF built a 3-0 lead after five innings thanks to a home run and a double by hot-hitting Jose Correa. Tanner Swank contributed with an RBI single. Pats starting pitcher Kaiden Lopez cruised through his first five innings, but in the sixth inning the Hawks took advantage of a two-out error to plate four runs and take a 4-3 lead. Lopez finished the day with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing four hits, three unearned runs, with ten strikeouts.

The Patriots would quickly respond by retaking the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning of the scheduled seven inning game. Victor Martinez singled followed by a Balint Piros double to start the inning. Gio Mendoza then came through with a two-run single to give CF the 5-4 lead. Juan Concepcion doubled home Mendoza to up the lead to two runs. Richard Bello (7-1) earned the win in relief, shutting out the Hawks in the seventh inning by striking out four batters.

In the second game of the day the Pats scored runs in 4 of the first 5 innings and cruised to a 9-2 win. Cameron Uzzillia had two hits including an inside-the-park homerun. Uzzillia finished with four RBI. Martinez connected on his tenth homerun of the season and had two RBI. Piros and Swank had two hits each while Brett House added two RBI.

Jay Jung (4-3) was dealing on the mound going 6.2 innings scattering seven hits, allowing only two runs with eleven strikeouts. Niko Janssens relieved Jung and tossed 2.2 shutout innings to earn his fifth save of the season.

With the doubleheader sweep and the 2-1 series win over the Hawks, the Pats held on to their one-game lead in the Citrus Conference over the Florida Southwestern State Buccaneers. FSW comes to Ocala this Thursday to begin a crucial three-game series that will give one of the teams a leg up to the conference championship. Last season these same two teams met in the FCSAA State Championship game where FSW edged the Pats 6-5 to earn their first trip to the JUCO World series.

Citrus Conference Top 5 Standings

  • College of Central Florida – 18-6
  • Florida Southwestern State – 17-7
  • Miami-Dade College – 14-8-1
  • State College of Florida – 15-9
  • Daytona State College – 13-10-1