Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. – Lynn University's softball team was unable to hold on to a four-run lead in the second game and dropped both games of a doubleheader to Palm Beach Atlantic Thursday night at Lake Catherine Park. The Fighting Knights dropped the opener 9-4 before falling 12-4 in game two. The Blue & White are now 10-39 on the season.
Jordan Angel had a team-high four hits in the twinbill while Brittany Gross, Katrina Lavadan and Kasey Murray had three hits apiece. Anne Marie Van Casteren and Callie Darlin both had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.
The Fighting Knights erupted for four runs on five hits in the first inning of the second game to take the lead. Gross led off the game with an infield single and stole second on the very next pitch. Lavadan then drilled a shot up the middle to move Gross over to second. With one out, Darlin singled down the right field line to score Gross and move Lavadan to third. Carisa Cook then walked to load the bases and Van Casteren connected on a single up the middle to score both Lavadan and Darlin. Van Casteren advanced to second on the throw attempting to nail Darlin at home and Murray drove Van Casteren in with a single to right field.
Marianne Johnson looked good in the circle the first two innings before giving up three runs in the third. The Bowie, Md., native settled down to retire the side in the fourth but the Sailfish scored six runs on four hits and two errors in the fifth to take a five-run lead at 9-4. PBA got another three runs in the sixth to run-rule the Knights.
Van Casteren was the only Knight with two hits in game two and she also drove in two and scored a run.
Lynn fought back from an early deficit in the opener but was unable to capitalize on a number of scoring opportunities in the opener, leaving 12 runners stranded. Jordan Angel led the Knights with three hits while Gross and Lavadan both recorded a pair of base knocks. Lavadan also scored twice.
After falling behind 3-0 after the first inning, Lynn cut the lead to one with a pair of runs in the top of the third. Lavadan started the rally with a two-out triple down the left field line. Her three-base knock gave her ten career triples, tying Annemarie Cardinale ('01) for tops in the Knights record books. Mandi Brown then drove her in with a single off the diving first baseman and got to third on Darlin's single to centerfield. Brown later scored on Cook's infield single.
The one-run lead was quickly extended by the Sailfish in the bottom of the third as they went on a two-out rally of their own to record four runs, extending the lead to 7-2.
LU threatened in both the fourth and fifth innings to load the bases but came up empty in both frames. Darlin then retired the 'Fish half of the fifth and PBA replaced starting pitcher Chris Donovan with Lauren Bubeck to start the sixth.
Lynn was able to score off the new Sailfish hurler to cut the lead to three at 7-4 with two more runs in the top of the sixth. Gross led off the inning with an infield single before Lavadan's single to left advanced her 60 feet. With Brown at the plate, Bubeck's 2-1 pitch went through the glove of the catcher to put both runners in scoring position. The next offering was wild which scored Gross from third and Darlin's groundout to second plated Lavadan.
Once again, when the Knights were able to cut into the lead, the Sailfish came right back to extend it. This time PBA got two runs and went into the seventh with a 9-4 advantage. Lynn got another two runners on in the seventh but was unable to score.
The Fighting Knights close out their season at home with a three-game Sunshine State Conference series with Barry University on April 30-May 1. Saturday's single game with the Buccaneers starts at 2pm while Sunday's doubleheader is slated for a 1 pm start. Fans can follow the action of both games by logging onto www.LynnFightingKnights.com and clicking on "Game Central."
