#6 Mocs Fall to Fighting Knights in Series Opener

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 6 Florida Southern College baseball team struggled to score in a series opening loss to Lynn University on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Moccasins (30-9, 14-5 SSC) had two runs to open the game but were shut out for the remainder of the eight innings in a 15-2 loss. The Fighting Knights (24-14, 13-9 SSC) had 15 hits as a team, keeping FSC scoreless in eight straight innings with a six-run second inning to win the series opener.
 
Florida Southern had seven hits as a team, led by Grant Thoroman as the only multi-hit Moccasin in the game. Thoroman brought in the only two runs scored on a two RBI single in the first. Jevin Relaford stole two bases in the game, bringing his season total to 47, just two behind the program record of stolen bases in a single season (Nelson Rood – 49). Relaford, Wyatt Campbell, Rohsean Riley, Jack Duffy, and Cory Filley had singles for the team's seven hits. FSC only left four on base, while struggling defensively with three errors.
 
BJ Rivera was tagged with the start for the Mocs, his first start on the mound this season. He went 1.2 innings with six earned runs and a single strikeout. He was relieved by Evan Mobley and Ty Bradle, who gave up nine runs to the board. The final two pitchers, David Butz and Colby Rice, kept the Fighting Knights hitless for the final 1.2 innings.
 
Lynn had 15 hits as a team, led by a 4-for-5 outing by Cole Fowler with six RBI, hitting for the cycle. LU had nine extra-base hits, including three homers in the game, while still leaving eight on base in the 15-2 win. Mason Tinsley started the game with 2.2 innings pitched. Brad Benton went 4.1 for the win, keeping FSC scoreless. He was relieved by Sebastian Beimel and Alfonso Lombardi for the final two frames, allowing no hits and no runs.
 
The Mocs started with a 2-0 lead, opening with Thoroman's two-RBI single. Lynn added a solo run on a Fowler RBI double, though added six runs in the second inning, including a two-RBI triple by Fowler and a homer by Leon Paulino. Bryant Zayas had a homer in the third and three more runs in the fourth, including a homer by Fowler to take a 12-2 lead through four. FSC managed a scoreless fifth inning on defense, though gave up three combined runs in the sixth and seventh, including an RBI single by Fowler to complete hitting for the cycle. Lynn had the 15-2 lead into the eighth inning, as FSC struggled to get on base. The Mocs didn't register a hit in the final two innings, scoreless in eight straight innings, for the 15-2 loss.
 
The Mocs will look to rebound with a doubleheader tomorrow, April 18, with game one starting at 12 p.m. in Boca Raton.
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