BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Eckerd baseball team closed out its season on Saturday by splitting the doubleheader against Lynn, taking game one 10-3 before falling in game two 7-1 at Bobby Campbell Stadium.
In the day's opener, the Tritons struck first with an RBI groundout by Jake Fajardo in the second frame. Eckerd extended its lead in the fourth, scoring on an error to bring its tally to 2-0. An explosive sixth inning lifted the Tritons over the Knights 7-0 as Tyler Young, Kyle Ericson, and Peter Stavrakos added an RBI apiece, while Joe Wike closed the inning with a two-run single.
In the sixth, Lynn answered with a two-run single to bring the Fighting Knights back within five.
A homerun by Young and a double by Ericson put Eckerd up 9-2 in the seventh. The Knights added one more in the seventh, trying to narrow the deficit. Michael Ballard added a sacrifice fly to bring home Wike in the eighth.
Lynn was first on the board in the finale, with a run in the third. Young added his third RBI on the day with a single to level the scales in the fourth. A homerun in the bottom of the frame gave the Knights back their lead. A three-run homerun in the fifth saw Lynn up 5-1. A pair of RBI singles in the eighth added two insurance runs for the Knights to take the finale 7-1.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: Eckerd 10, Lynn 3
WP: Stockman (3-5) LP: Mormile (1-3) HR: Young (2)
Game Two
FINAL: Lynn 7, Eckerd 1
WP: Grubbs (2-4) LP: Heatter (2-2) HR: Ford (5), Okamura (3)
RECORDS: Eckerd (22-27, 10-20 SSC), Lynn (17-29-1, 8-22 SSC)
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- The Tritons racked up 17 hits in game one, 25 on the day, and 36 in the series.
- Young led the Tritons in the series with four RBIs. His homerun in the seventh was his second of the season and third of his career.
- Young and Ericson led EC with five hits each in the series. Ballard, Abbott, and Stavrakos each had four.
- Gil Colon struck out four batters and allowed no hits over two innings of work in the opener.
- In the finale, the Tritons' bullpen combined for 14 strikeouts, Gavin Grubbs posted five to match his career-high. Rick Koch struck out a career-high three batters to close the game.
- Ballard ended the season with 81 hits, ranking fourth in single-season records, three hits away from tying the record. Tyler Cox ends the season with 78 hits ranking seventh in single-season records.
- The games marked the end of the careers of Eckerd's 11 seniors: Michael Ballard, Gil Colon, Payton McIntosh, Jacob Stipp, Weston Wiles, Joe Muzio, Jake Andriole, Sam Boudreau, Brendan Lawry, Gunner Womer, and Fletcher Reynolds.
