BOCA RATON, Fla. – Lynn baseball lost its series opener against Embry-Riddle, 9-8, Friday afternoon. The Fighting Knights, who trailed 8-1 at one point, scored three runs on the bottom of the ninth but were unable to bring the tying run across the plate. Cole Fowler and Leon Paulino each had three hits, while Shawn Dougherty blasted a three-run homer in the loss.
 
Lynn is now 18-17 overall and 5-11 in the Sunshine State Conference.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Starting pitcher Matt Tiberia pitched a 1-2-3 top of the first inning
- The Fighting Knights scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first
- Deric LaMontagne and Fowler drew back-to-back walks
- Paulino drove home LaMontagne with an opposite-field double
- Three singles led to an Eagles run in the top of the second inning
- Embry-Riddle's first seven batters reached safely in the top of the third inning en route to a seven-run inning and 8-1 lead
- Dougherty hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the third, scoring Fowler and Paulino, to cut Lynn's deficit to four runs 
- Reliever Jack Potter pitched clean fourth and fifth innings, striking out one in each frame
- Fowler hit an RBI double to deep center, scoring LaMontagne, to make the score 8-5
- ERAU scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh to increase its lead to four runs, 9-5
- Hayden See and Julio Camarena walked to start off the bottom of the ninth
- Fowler hit a double down the third base line to score See
- Paulino followed with a two-run single to put Lynn within a run, 9-8
- A fly out to center ended the game as the Fighting Knights comeback bid fell short 
 
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Fowler raised his season batting average to .340 and leads the team with a .414 OB%
- Paulino leads the team with a .343 average and 41 RBI this season
- Dougherty hit his sixth home run of the season
- LaMontagne walked twice to raise his season OB% to .392
- See recorded his first career extra-base hit with a triple
- Six of Lynn's nine hits went for extra bases
- Relievers Potter, Gil Colon and Jared Terefenco combined to throw seven innings and allow just one earned run
 
UP NEXT:
- The Fighting Knights and Eagles play the second game of their three-game set tomorrow at 1:00 pm