Box Score
BOCA RATON - Florida Southern was on the verge of preventing a three-game sweep by Lynn here Saturday afternoon as the Moccains held a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth inning, but the Fighting Knights rallied for three runs over the final two innings to earn a 4-3 victory in Sunshine State Conference action at the Lynn Baseball Field to complete the sweep.
With the loss, the Mocs fall to 12-14 overall and 6-3 in the SSC, while Lynn improves to 20-9 overall and 5-1 in the league standings.
In Saturday's game, the Mocs trailed 1-0 following a leadoff home run in the fourth inning by Ryan Lashley off of junior starter Alex Norris (Clearwater, Fla.). Following the homer, Norris allowed two singles and put the runners on second and third thanks to wild pitches, before getting out of the jam by striking out the final two Lynn batters.
FSC, who fell to 0-13 away from home this season, answered Lynn's run with a run of its own in the fifth inning on an RBI double by senior catcher Brad Carlton (Arcadia, Fla.), which came two batters after senior first baseman Kyle Jackson (Avon Park, Fla.) broke up a no-hit bid by Lynn's Jed Vandernaald with an infield single and moved to second after redshirt senior designated hitter Colin Kish (Philadelphia, Pa.) drew a walk.
Lynn had a scoring chance in the bottom of the fifth as they put runners on first and second with out, but Norris battled out of the jam as Lashley reached on a single, but Mike Gonzalez, who had walked to lead off the inning was thrown out at the plate trying to score to end the threat and keep the game tied at 1-all.
The Mocs would take its first lead of the game in the sixth inning as junior second baseman Conor Szczerba (Titusville, Fla.) led off with a single, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior shortstop Kyle Gibbs (Sarasota, Fla.) and scored on an RBI double down the right line by sophomore leftfielder Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.) to give the Mocs a 2-1 lead. Curcio's RBI was his 16th of the season and the double was his team-leading fourth.
FSC's lead grew to 3-1 in the seventh on an RBI single by Gibbs that plated Carlton, who had reached on a single to center off of Vandernaald.
Carlton finished the game with two hits, a run score and an RBI, while Jackson also added two hits for the Mocs, who had nine for the game, all of which came over the final five innings.
The Fighting Knights, though, would rally in the eighth as they recorded three hits and scored two runs to tie score at 3-all. After junior Nick Krolczyk (Coral Springs, Fla.) walked the leadoff batter, Enrique Perez and allowed a single to Alex Freedman, the Knights would score the game's second run on an RBI through the left side by Jason Matusik off of senior reliever Mike Czenszak (Downingtown, Pa.) and would tie the game on an RBI single to left by Paul Stortini.
In top of the ninth, junior third baseman Jimmy Correnti (Fort Myers, Fla.) reached on a one out single to left to extend his hit streak to three straight games, but was stranded at first as Andrew Melchor struck out junior centerfielder J.J. Downum (Land O'Lakes, Fla.) and Szczerba to end the inning.
The Mocs replaced Czenszak in the bottom of the ninth with junior righthander Nate Carter (Boca Raton, Fla.) and after striking out Chris Piperno to open the frame, Carter walked Gonzalez and then gave up a double to Perez that drove home the winning run.
Carter (1-1) took the loss as he threw 0.1 innings and allowed one hit and one run, while walking one and fanning one.
Norris scattered eight hits and allowed just one run in five innings of work as the starter. He also struck out three and walked one.
Melchor (3-0), who was the fifth Lynn pitcher in the game, earned the victory as he allowed just one hit and struck out two in his only inning of work.
Vandernaald earned a no-decision as he threw 6.1 innings and allowed six hits and three runs, while walking one and fanning four.
The Fighting Knights recorded 12 hits in the game, including a 3-for-4 day at the plate from Freedman, while Perez, Lashley and Matusik each had two hits in the win.
FSC will return to action next weekend as they host Palm Beach Atlantic in a three-game non-conference series at Henley Field. The teams will open the series on Friday, March 29 with a single game at 6 p.m., before playing a doubleheader on Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m.
