BOCA RATON, Fla. - Lynn University's baseball team took advantage of eight free passes and three errors to beat Eckerd 9-1 on Saturday afternoon. Cory Elasik drove in four runs, three of which came off his second home run of the season, while Jed Vandernaald tossed seven scoreless innings. The Fighting Knights improve to 23-12 overall and 7-3 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Eckerd (13-18, 1-12 SSC) had trouble from the opening pitch as starter Jordan Huchro hit Enrique Perez with his first offering and walked Alex Freedman on four pitches. Huchro did not throw a strike until the second pitch of the third batter he faced and when he finally induced a ground ball from Ryan Lashley, the Triton's defense did not give him any help, fumbling the ball to allow Perez to score.
Sal Giardina added the second run of the frame with a bases loaded RBI single while Joey Sharkey drew a bases loaded walk and Mike Gonzalez made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Another error in the fourth by the Tritons, this time on a potential double-play, put runners on first and second with no outs. Sharkey and Gonzalez had little trouble reaching home after Elasik drilled a 2-2 fastball into the trees in left field for a three-run home run.
Lynn added runs in the fifth and sixth innings, one on another bases loaded walk and the last from a Paul Stortini RBI single.
Vandernaald (5-3) battled over seven innings, allowing four hits with one walk and two strikeouts. The junior right-hander was not as sharp as his 10 K outing against Florida Tech but allowed just one runner past second base.
Eric Pfefer pitched the final two innings, fanning one and allowing one run off a Shane Bishop double in the eighth. Every starter reached base at least once as LU scattered eight hits to go along with five walks and three hit batsmen.
The Fighting Knights look to take the series against the Tritons with a noon doubleheader on Sunday, April 7. Fans can catch the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com and receive in-game updates by following @LUKnights on Twitter and Instagram.
