BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Lynn baseball team picked up its first victory of the 2026 season Saturday afternoon, erupting for 12 runs on 16 hits in a 12-7 win over Cal State East Bay at home.
Bryant Zayas powered the Fighting Knights with two home runs and five RBI, including a momentum-shifting grand slam in the fourth, while
Sebastian Beimel delivered four shutout innings in relief and
Charlie Devito provided the go-ahead two-run blast in the seventh to help Lynn pull away late.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Cal State East Bay struck first in the opening inning, delivering an RBI single to give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead
- Lynn responded immediately in the bottom half, with
Bryant Zayas blasting a solo homer to tie the game
- The Fighting Knights kept the pressure on, as
Jason Lashley knocked an RBI single to score
Scout Simpson and put Lynn in front 2-1 after one
- East Bay answered in the second, taking advantage of a Lynn error to even the score at 2-2
- The Pioneers pulled ahead in the third, using a walk and defensive miscues to push across two runs and take a 4-2 advantage
- Lynn broke through in a big way in the fourth inning, sparked by
Charlie Devito's RBI single before Zayas launched a grand slam to highlight a five-run frame and swing the lead back to Lynn, 7-4
- Cal State East Bay battled back in the fifth, capitalizing on multiple errors to score three runs and tie the game at 7-7
- Reliever
Sebastian Beimel settled things down from there, tossing four scoreless innings out of the bullpen to keep the Pioneers off the board
- Lynn regained the lead for good in the seventh, as Devito crushed a two-run homer to make it 9-7
- The Fighting Knights added insurance in the eighth, beginning with
Scout Simpson's two-run homer to extend the margin to 11-7
- Lynn tacked on one more run later in the inning on a wild pitch, pushing the advantage to 12-7
- Beimel closed it out in the ninth, inducing a game-ending double play to secure the Fighting Knights' 12-7 victory at home
FIGHTING KNIGHT STATS:
- Zayas powered the Fighting Knights' lineup, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a game-high five RBI, highlighted by a solo homer in the first and a grand slam in the fourth
- Devito delivered the decisive swing, finishing 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, including the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning
- Simpson added a key insurance blast, going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a two-run homer in the eighth
-
Justin Lopez set the tone near the top of the order, finishing 2-for-5 with a double and scoring a run
- Lashley chipped in a multi-hit afternoon, going 2-for-5 with an RBI single and a stolen base
- Lynn totaled 16 hits and three home runs, scoring 12 runs and breaking open a back-and-forth contest late
- Beimel (1-0) earned the win in relief, tossing four shutout innings with two strikeouts to close the door after the game was tied in the sixth
- The Fighting Knights plated five runs in the fourth to take control, regained the lead for good on Devito's homer in the seventh, and tacked on three more in the eighth to seal the victory
UP NEXT:
- The Fighting Knights will be back home bright and early tomorrow morning to host Cal State East Bay at 9:30 am before welcoming No. 5 Catawba to Boca on Sunday afternoon at 2 pm.
