BOCA RATON, Fla. - Lynn University's 19th-ranked baseball team avenged its Saturday loss to Winona State with an 11-4 victory on Sunday afternoon. Bobby Kurse tossed 4.1 no-hit innings in relief for his first career victory while the Fighting Knights offense was paced by Thomas Kain and Albert Lefran who combined to go 6-of-7 at the plate with three runs scored and four runs batted in. Lynn improves to 18-4 overall.
The Blue & White were raking early-on with runs in the first and second innings to take a 2-0 lead over Winona State (2-4). Kain drove in the first of his two runs with the first of his two doubles down the left field line in the opening frame while Lefran smacked a RBI single in the second to bring home Matt Ackerman.
Lynn starter Daniel Patrick cruised through the opening innings but ran into major trouble in the third when he allowed four runs, including a three-run home run, all with two outs. Kruse came in with the bases loaded and induced an inning-ending ground ball to the 11th batter of the inning Nathan Krause.
Kruse and AJ Falleta then stymied the Warriors for the remainder of the game by not allowing a hit until one out in the ninth. Kruse fanned two batters and did not issue a walk to pick up the win. Falletta also set down two batters via strikeout in two shutout frames and ended the game with a 4-6-3 double-play.
The Fighting Knights were able to knot the game at four in the bottom of the fourth after Enrique Perez and Alex Freedman recorded sacrifice flies. Lynn then started the rout in with seven runs in the sixth.
Lefran opened the inning with a double and scored three batters later on a Freedman groundout. Kain then kept the rally alive when he legged out a single deep in the left hole while also scoring Michael Stemle. There would be no close calls on the next batter as Alex DeBellis hit a no-doubt home run to near dead center field, increasing Lynn's lead to 8-4.
Winona State needed three pitchers to close out the sixth, with the second pitcher coming in after a walk to Sal Giardina. Three more walks, the last to Lefran, drove in another run and forced the Warriors to their third hurler. Nick Ender fared just as well as his teammates, surrendering a first-pitch, two-run single to Michael Stemle to make it an 11-4 Lynn lead.
In addition to Kain and Lefran's outings at the plate, Matt Ackerman and Stemle each went 2-for-3 and combined for four runs scored.
The Fighting Knights return to the diamond on Monday, March 10, at 3 p.m. when they host Adelphi. Fans can watch the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com and receive in-game updates by following @LUKnights on Twitter, Instagram and Vine.
