BOCA RATON, Fla.- Lynn University's eighth-ranked baseball team fell to Palm Beach Atlantic, 7-6, in 11 innings on Friday afternoon at the Lynn Baseball Field. The Fighting Knights fall to 33-14 overall while the win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Sailfish.
PBA took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but Lynn answered back with one run scored in each of the next two innings to lead 2-1 after three frames when Tom Kain doubled down the left field line to score Michael Stemle in the bottom of the third.
Bobby Kruse tossed 3.1 innings in his third start of the season when he allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with four strikeouts before Bill Mendek came on in relief.
The Sailfish outscored Lynn 4-1 over the next four innings to lead 5-3 in the eighth. Senior Sal Giardina hit a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the deficit to one.
Mendek pitched into the ninth inning and allowed three runs, all unearned. He fanned three batters and allowed just four hits during his time on the mound.
Head Coach Rudy Garbalosa turned to his southpaw reliever AJ Falletta in the ninth who struck out the first batter he faced. The two non-conference rivals would need extra innings to decide the winner after the Blue & White scored in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game 5-5 when Enrique Perez knocked a single through the left side to score Albert Lefran from third.
PBA scored two runs when Ryan Drew singled to deep left center of Lynn's closer Andrew Melchor in the 11th inning. Trailing by two with one last opportunity, the Fighting Knights rallied once again in the bottom of the frame. Lefran was struck by a pitch to place the tying run at the plate, Ryan Carmona. Carmona would ground into a double play leaving the Blue & White with one out to spare.
Stemle singled up the middle and Perez would follow suit with another base hit up the middle, scoring Lynn's speedy left fielder to trail by one, 7-6. Palm Beach Atlantic turned to its closer Robbie Pettet who walked Kain to place runners on first and second. Giardina struck out swinging to end the threat, and ball game, with the scoreboard in PBA's favor.
Lynn tallied 13 hits in the loss with three Fighting Knights having multi-hit games. Perez led the way going 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in.
Melchor (0-1) was hit with his first loss of the season on the mound pitching one and two thirds innings and striking out two Sailfish. Dominic Monda (5-4) earned the win on the mound when he pitched three innings of relief for PBA.
Lynn will host Palm Beach Atlantic at noon on Saturday, May 3, for the final two home games of the 2014 season. Fans can follow the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com. Don't forget to 'Like' us on Facebook and follow @LUKnights on Twitter and Instagram for in-game updates.
