Baseball Splits Doubleheader to Close Out Series With No. 6 Lynn

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Riding the arm of starting pitcher Jimmy Gutowski, the Eckerd College baseball team split a Sunshine State Conference doubleheader with sixth-ranked Lynn University on Sunday afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex.

Eckerd (20-9, 8-4 SSC) nearly came from behind to take the first game, but would ultimately fall 5-4 to the Fighting Knights (25-7, 9-3 SSC). The Tritons earned the victory in game two by a score of 3-1.

In his 24th season, Eckerd head coach Bill Mathews moved that much closer to joining exclusive and rare company among NCAA Division II managers with 500 or more career wins in their tenure. The game-two victory represented win No. 497 for Mathews as EC defeated its third nationally-ranked league opponent this spring.

The SSC doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but unplayable field conditions with forecasted rain forced postponement.

Game 1 - Lynn 5, Eckerd 4

Lynn's Enrique Perez delivered what turned out to be the game-winning hit with an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning, decisively breaking a 4-4 tie as EC's relentless comeback bid fell just short.

Lynn scored two runs in the second inning while drawing a handful of walks to open up the scoring.

Eckerd cut the Fighting Knights' lead to one in the fifth as freshman Lucas Luopa led off the inning with a double and later scored on an RBI single by sophomore Rowdy Andrews.

Lynn added two runs to its lead in the sixth off of a two-run double from Thomas Kain.

The Tritons tabbed one run in their half of the sixth and tied the game at 4-4 in the seventh on an RBI grounder from junior Mike Abraham and a double from senior Chris Hanson.

Junior Bill Mendek earned the win for Lynn and tossed the final three innings.

EC's Andrews and Vavasis both collected three hits in the effort.

Game 2 - Eckerd 3, Lynn 1

EC's Gutowski locked down the Lynn offense to improve to 8-0 on the year, finishing out his fourth consecutive complete game. Among all Division II pitchers, only Gutowski and the University of West Florida's Jordan DeLorenzo have perfect 8-0 records on the mound.

Eckerd jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, scoring off a grounder from Hanson in the first inning.

A double from Dunham would score Hanson in the fourth inning to account for the game-winning run, and a sacrifice fly in the fifth from sophomore Carter Cashman added an insurance run.

In the sixth, Lynn tabbed its only run on a double from senior Sal Giardina.

The Fighting Knights' run was the first allowed by Gutowski in nearly 12 consecutive innings. He gave up just one run on five hits and recorded a pair of strikeouts.

Up Next: The Tritons will take a midweek break from conference play as Webber International University travels to the Turley Athletic Complex on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Live stats and video/audio will be available on www.EckerdTritons.com.