WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team opened its conference series with a dominant victory, 14-4, over Palm Beach Atlantic on the road Friday night.
The Tritons got out to an early four-run lead in the second. Kyle Ericson reached on an error to bring Jake Andriole home to start the scoring. Cam Collier added another tally as he scored when Joe Wike reached on a throwing error. Tyler Cox hit a two-run single up the middle to give EC a 4-0 lead in the frame. With the bases loaded in the third, Kam Gelwick drew a walk for a 5-0 Triton favor.
The Sailfish attempted to answer with a pair of homeruns in back-to-back innings, cutting their deficit to two, 5-3.
Andriole added security to the Triton lead in the seventh, scoring on a wild pitch. Gelwick added another two RBIs in the frame with a double to left field. Michael Ballard followed suit with a two-run single to give the Tritons double-digit runs. To close out the six-run inning, Kyle Abbott hit a sacrifice fly to center field to plate Ballard.
With two runners on in the eighth, Gelwick hit a three-run homerun, bringing his RBI count on the night to six.
The Sailfish added a run late in the ninth, but it was not nearly enough to close the 10-run gap caused by Eckerd's lineup.
Jacob Stipp collected his first win on the mound for the season as he struck out four batters through seven innings of work.
HOW IT ENDED
FINAL: Eckerd 14, Palm Beach Atlantic 4
WP: Jacob Stipp (1-2) LP: Chris Seymour (2-2) HR: Kam Gelwick (1), Casaleggi (1), Machado (1)
RECORDS: Eckerd 12-6 (3-4 SSC); Palm Beach Atlantic 11-12 (0-7 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Gelwick's six RBIs were a career-high and the most by a Triton this season. Gelwick also hit his first career homerun.
- Ballard and Cox each had two RBIs, Ballard also adding a run. Abbott had one RBI on the night.
- Collier and Gelwick both went 3-for-4 on the night, while Cox, Ballard, and Andriole each posted a multi-hit performance with two hits.
- Payton McIntosh tossed the eighth inning, throwing a perfect inning with one strikeout.
- Darius Bradley recorded his first hit as a Triton tonight.
UP NEXT
The Tritons close out the series, with the Sailfish tomorrow in the doubleheader with the first game beginning at 12:00 PM.
