Lakeland, Fla. – Sending 14 players to the plate in the top of the ninth, Lynn University's 14th-ranked baseball team scored nine runs to claim an 11-2 victory over Florida Southern on Friday night.  Eric Herrera and Alex Bello belted back-to-back home runs while Joe Perrotta tossed 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.  The Fighting Knights improve to 21-8 overall and 5-2 in the Sunshine State Conference and Florida Southern drops to 16-13 and 6-7.

Tied 2-2 heading into the final frame, Bello drew a five-pitch walk to start the LU rally.  A perfectly placed bunt single by Joey Sharkey gave the Blue & White two runners with no outs and a wild pitch put Lynn in prime position to take the lead.  Kyle Radzewski followed with a high chopper to a drawn in second baseman but Bello's speed beat out the throw at home to put the Fighting Knights ahead 3-2.

Austin Smith continued the rally with a bunt single down the third base line but an errant throw by Mike Snyder allowed both Sharkey and Radzewski to score opening the game up.  Two outs and a pop up by Elasik appeared to end things but Kyle Jackson dropped the ball, scoring Mike Diorio.

The onslaught continued with Herrara.  Coming into the season without a home run, the senior bashed his second in two weekends, a two-run shot over the fence in left field to chase Mike Czenszak from the game.  Anthony Dovale came to the mound and served up a solo shot to Bello on a 1-1 fastball right down Broadway.  Smith ended the LU scoring with his second single of the frame, a RBI shot up the middle.

Despite not displaying his best stuff, Shawn Kale batted through 6.1 innings of work.  He allowed five hits, two runs, one earned while fanning six but also issuing six walks.  Perrotta (2-2) entered in the seventh with runners on first and second and one out but induced an inning-ending double play to end the threat.

The Blue & White were able to grab a lead over their opponent in the third inning.  Bello opened the frame with a double inside the third base line and scored when Sharkey sent a ground ball to first.  An error by Snyder helped LU grab the 2-0 advantage.

Walks and errors helped Florida Southern get on the board in the third and later tie the game in the fourth.  Snyder drew a bases loaded walk to cut the lead to 2-1 while a fielding error in right field helped the Moccasins take first and second situation and knot the game at two.

The Fighting Knights close out their series against Florida Southern on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.  Fans can follow the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com by selecting the Game Central icon.