Box Score ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - What looked like a baserunning miscue turned into the winning run for the Eckerd baseball team in Friday's series opener against Palm Beach Atlantic.
Nick Hill turned a potential rundown into a stolen base and forced an error which allowed him to cross home plate in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Tritons picked up a 5-4 win at the Turley Athletic Complex.
Hill legged out an infield single to lead off the inning, then advanced to second on a grounder by
Mitchell Calandra. A ball in the dirt to
Grant Banko caused Hill to take a larger lead, and when he lost his footing several steps off the bag, he appeared to be in prime position to be picked off.
But Hill's speed made a huge difference. Instead of returning to the bag at second, he broke for third when the throw went behind him. Trying to make a quick exchange and catch Hill at third, Sailfish shortstop Robert Campo sailed the throw over the head of the third baseman and allowed Hill to score the winning run with no incident at home plate.
The exciting finish was an appropriate way to cap a solid performance on the mound by a trio of Triton pitchers.Â
Jack Mahan allowed just three hits over 5-2/3 inning, though one of those hits was a two-strike, two-out, three-run home run in the fourth to give PBA a 4-3 lead.Â
Jack Silberman relieved Mahan in the sixth and worked out of a bases-loaded jam before giving way to
Kevin Kane in the eighth. Kane (1-1) tossed three scoreless innings to pick up his first win of the year.
Eckerd (12-17) started the game with a flurry of hits, totaling 10 through the first five innings. The Tritons plated three in the bottom of the third on RBI singles by
Jake O'Rourke and
Garrett Hiott and a sacrifice fly by Calandra.Â
Tyler Koser added a run-scoring single in the fourth to tie the game at 4-4, where the score remained until the 10th inning.
PBA starter Eric Russell found a groove after the fifth, working into the eighth inning and striking out 10 Eckerd hitters. He finally gave way to Dominic Monda (6-2), who took the loss.
The Tritons got two hits apiece from Hiott, Hill, Banko and Koser in the win.
The series concludes on Saturday with a double-header beginning at noon.
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