Miami Gardens, Fla.—Lynn University's baseball team fell to the St. Thomas University Bobcats 6-2 on Wednesday despite a 3-for-4 day from Alex Bello and only three earned runs allowed by the Fighting Knights pitching staff.
Bello's 3-for-4 day including a two-out RBI double in the fourth and two putouts and an assist defensively for Lynn (7-5).
Austin Bailey received the starting nod and went five and one-third innings and allowed only five hits. Bailey walked three, struck out three and surrendered three earned runs.
After three innings of scoreless baseball, the Fighting Knights struck first in the top of the fourth. Anthony Boza started things off for Lynn with a leadoff walk then moved to second on a Jason Matusik single through the left side. Cory Elasik then grounded into a double play, advancing Boza to third. Bello delivered a double over the center fielders head to give the Knights an early 1-0 advantage.
St. Thomas answered in the bottom of the fourth to knot things up after Bailey gave up a leadoff walk then a double and a sacrifice fly. Bailey was able to retire the next two batters in a row to end the Bobcat threat.
The Bobcats tried to grab a lead in the fifth when Robert Rodrigues tried to score from second on a single to left field but Bello fired a strike to catcher Joey Sharkey to hose Rodriguez at the plate for out number three.
In the sixth, St. Thomas added two more runs on a leadoff triple followed by a double and a single to go up 3-1 against the Blue & White. Dan Piturro entered the game for Lynn in relief of Bailey and finished the final two outs of the fifth on eight pitches.
Down by two with three innings remaining, Lynn capitalized on a St. Thomas error to plate one run and trim the deficit down to one. Kyle Radzewski reached base in the seventh with one out on a throwing error by the Bobcats' short stop. After Austin Smith earned a single on a beautifully placed bunt, Mike Diorio ripped a double down the left field line to score Radzewski. With one out, Matusik grounded into an inning ending double play.
Lynn saw a prime opportunity to tie the game or take the lead slip through its fingers in the eighth when the Fighting Knights put runner on second and third with no outs but could not score.
Conversely, St. Thomas totaled three runs on three hits in the bottom half of the eighth to go up by four and halt the Lynn comeback hopes. All three runs in the eighth came as a result of Fighting Knights' fielding errors.
Jason Whalen tossed the final two innings for Lynn and gave up three hits with no walks and one strikeout. The three runs given up by Whalen were all unearned.
Both Smith and Diorio posted multi-hit games, each going 2-for-4 with a walk. Boza tallied a 1-for-3 night while Matusik and Elasik both added one hit. The Knights out-hit St. Thomas 10-8.
The Fighting Knights play No. 19 Mercyhurst tomorrow, February 23, at 6 p.m. in Santaluces, Fla. in their next action. Stay connected to LynnFightingKnights.com for the latest news concerning Fighting Knights baseball.
