BOCA RATON, Fla. –After a 528 hour delay, Lynn University's 12th-ranked baseball team came out the victor of a 14 inning game continued from March 16 with a 9-8 win over the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish and then dropped the Sailfish again with a 4-3 win in game originally scheduled for today.
Jason Whalen took the hump for Lynn (29-11) in the top of the 14th and allowed a leadoff double to Travis Murray. After a Whalen errant throw on a sacrifice bunt from the next batter, the Sailfish had runners on first and third with no outs.
The Lynn righty then tossed a wild pitch to score Murray and put a runner on second with no outs. PBA added one more run before Whalen closed the door in the top of the 14th with a ground out to Kyle Radzewski at short.
Down by two in the bottom of the 14th, Cory Elasik led off the inning for Lynn. Elasik grounded a ball to third that was thrown over the head of the Palm Beach Atlantic first baseman, allowing Elasik to advance to third.
Jason Matusik then cued a ball off the end of the bat to first that took a sideways hop away from the first baseman and scored Elasik. After an Eric Herrera pop out, Leo Carrillo singled through the right side of the infield to put the tying run on second with one out.
Radzewski then lifted a bloop single to right field to load the bases with one out for Alex Bello. Bello struck out to put Lynn down to its last out of the game with the bases loaded, down by one and Mike Diorio at the plate.
Down to his last strike, Diorio rolled a 2-2 pitch to third that looked to be the end of the game. PBA's third baseman fielded the ball cleanly and tossed to second for the force out. The ball glanced off the glove of the PBA second baseman and slowly rolled to the outfield, allowing Carrillo and Matusik to score and end the game.
Shawn Kale started the game for Lynn back on March 16 and went seven innings with nine strikeouts. Matusik went 3-for-6 as Bello and Austin Smith both added two hits each.
The 13.2 innings marks the second longest game in school history. Both teams combined for a total of 30 hits in the marathon affair.
Whalen again took the hill to start game two and started the game in a completely different fashion with two strikeouts and a perfect first inning.
In the bottom of the first, Smith started the game with a leadoff double to left center. After Diorio put down a bunt single, Anthony Boza grounded into a double play to score Smith and give the Fighting Knights the early 1-0 advantage.
The Sailfish answered back in the top of the third when Whaled hit the first batter then gave up a single to put runners on first and third with no outs. Joe Perrotta came in to relieve Whalen and gave up single to Luis Mejia that tied the game but then picked off a base runner, struck out a batter, and then forced a fly out to end the Sailfish threat with minimal damage.
Palm Beach Atlantic took the lead in the top of the fourth on a solo shot by Brooks Fleming, but the Blue & White answered in the bottom of the fifth.
It was again a PBA error that Lynn took advantage of in the fifth. After Paul Stortini singled, the Sailfish pitcher fielded a Phil Mannally sac bunt and looked to retire Stortini at second. The throw lifted the short stop off the bag and all Lynn runners were safe on the play.
Radzewski then sacrificed the runners to second and third to bring up Smith. Smith ripped a line drive to center but a diving catch was made to retire smith. Stortini tagged up on the play and the Fighting Knights tied things up at 2-2.
Perrotta continued to deal for Lynn and gave a scoreless sixth. In the bottom of the seventh, the Sailfish collected two quick outs but three singles in a row from Smith, Diorio and Boza gave LU a 3-2 advantage.
After a scoreless eighth, Lynn called on closer Andre Colon to capture the win. Colon collected save number six on the season in a 1-2-3 inning capped off by his 25th strikeout of the year.
Whalen worked two innings with four hits and three strikeouts. Perrotta totaled four innings, giving up four hits and added seven strikeouts. Austin Bailey added two innings of one-hit baseball and two Ks. Colon then tossed a perfect ninth to seal the deal for Lynn.
Lynn returns to the field on Friday, April 20, and welcomes the Barry University Buccaneers for a a three-game Sunshine State Conference series with the first pitch slated for 3 p.m. Fans can follow the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com by selecting the Game Central icon.
