MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Lynn baseball team came back in the final two innings to defeat Florida Tech, 6-5, in their first conference game of the season. AJ Orrico hit a two-run single to tie the game at five in the eighth inning and Leon Paulino hit a ninth-inning, two-out solo homer to put the Fighting Knights on top.
Lynn is now 7-3-1 overall and 1-0 in the Sunshine State Conference.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Fighting Knights struck first in the top of first after Deric LaMontagne walked with the bases loaded to score AJ Orrico
- In his first start since being named SSC Pitcher of the Week, Drew Dwyer struck out the side on the bottom of the second inning
- The Panthers tied the game in the third on an RBI groundout
- In the top of the fifth, John Rodriguez and Shawn Dougherty each hit RBI doubles to give Lynn a 3-1 lead
- Florida Tech responded with a four-run fifth inning with help from an Austin Sewell two-run triple to give the home team a 5-3 advantage
- In the top of the eighth, with the bases loaded and two outs, Orrico hit a two-run single to even the score
- With two outs in the top of the ninth, Leon Paulino drove a pitch over the right field wall to give Lynn the lead back, 6-5
- In the bottom of the ninth, relief pitcher Eric Heatter got Diego Garcia to fly out with a runner in scoring position for the final out of the game
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Paulino homered in his third straight game and has at least one hit and RBI in each of the five games he's played this season
- Orrico went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI and a stolen base, his sixth multi-hit game of the season
- Byron Murray drew his conference-leading ninth and tenth walks of the season and stole his third base
- David Judge went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base, raising his season batting average to .359
- Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a run, double, RBI and walk and has an extra-base hit in six of his last eight games
- Dougherty extended his hitting streak to seven games
- Dwyer struck out seven over 5.2 innings and has a 13.5 SO/9 rate this season
- Chase Wills struck out two in 2.1 scoreless innings of relief and has not allowed a run in three appearances in 2023
- Heatter pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the season
- The Fighting Knights walked six times in the game and their 5.36 BB/G are the most of any team in the SSC
- Lynn has at least eight hits in 10 of their 11 games played in 2023
UP NEXT:
Lynn and Florida Tech play a doubleheader in Melbourne tomorrow, February 25, starting at 1:00 pm
