ST. PETERSBURG -- Luis Garrido hit a walk-off grand slam in game one of a doubleheader on Saturday to highlight a three-game series sweep for the Eckerd Tritons over the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish. The Tritons won the first contest by a score of 12-8 before taking the finale with a score of 8-2.
A leadoff home run for the Sailfish gave the visitors an early lead immediately in game one, but the Tritons earned their first lead in the bottom half with a two-spot, seeing an RBI single from
Kam Gelwick bring in the first run before an error accounted for the second. PBA tied the game up at 2-2 with a single tally in the third, followed by two more in the fourth to double up Eckerd at 4-2.
The Tritons again answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half, this time using a sac fly from
Hunter Rebhan, and Gelwick's second RBI hit of the contest to even the score. For the third time in the game, the Sailfish regained a lead after plating three in the fifth. A bases-loaded walk to Rebhan in the bottom of the inning earned one back from the Tritons. Palm Beach Atlantic led 7-5 after five innings of action.
A botched double play attempt that resulted in a run inched the Tritons closer with another tally in the sixth, but the visitors quickly notched their two-run lead back in the seventh.
Christian Cabina brought Eckerd back within one with a sac fly in the Tritons' half of the seventh, and
Dawson Jones delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth to even the score at 8-8 entering the ninth.
After working around a one-out double in the PBA half of the ninth, the Tritons put
Corey Hodierne on base via a walk to lead off the bottom of the frame. Hodierne stole two of his five bases in the inning before a pair of walks loaded the bases with one out. Garrido took the third pitch of his at-bat out of the ballpark and walked off the game with a grand slam. He finished 3-for-6 in the win with four RBI and three runs scored.
Rocco Calise earned the win on the mound after finishing the game out of the bullpen. He went four innings and struck out nine.
In game two of the doubleheader, Eckerd was the first to score with three in the bottom of the first. A pair of RBI doubles from Rebhan and Cabina, as well as a Gelwick sacrifice fly, were responsible for the game's first scores. Two innings later, Gelwick collected his second sac fly in as many plate appearances to stretch the margin out to four.
Garrido belted his second home run of the day in the fourth, and
Ean Gimson delivered an RBI single to make it a 6-0 game. The Sailfish secured runs back in both the fifth and sixth innings, but an RBI bunt single from Hodierne and a Garrido double followed to claim the six-run lead back. A clean eighth and ninth inning ensued for the Tritons to complete the sweep.
Cabina, Hodierne, and Gimson each posted three-hit efforts in the win.
Grady Bivens improved to 8-0 on the mound, while
Max Folkman and
Christian Del Campo combined for three scoreless innings to close out the game.
Eckerd will be back in action Tuesday for a non-conference road game at Saint Leo.
