Lynn’s Baseball Season Ends at NCAA Regional

By Chad Beattie

Lynn University’s run to a baseball national championship ended following a 4-2 loss to Florida Southern in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.  The Fighting Knights held a 2-1 lead but two errors helped the Moccasins eliminate their Sunshine State Conference rival.  Lynn ends the season 35-16 overall with a program-best 15-9 mark in SSC play.
Matt Ackerman carried the offensive load, going 3-for-4 at the plate while Daniel Patrick (5-2) tossed 5.1 innings with five strikeouts on the mound.

Consecutive extra base hits in the third inning gave Florida Southern (34-18) a 1-0 lead but the Blue & White responded in the home half with two runs.  Ackerman opened the frame with a single and reached third when Lynn loaded the bases on a Mocs error.  Michael Stemle then put his team back on top with a two-run single down the left field line.

The Fighting Knights lead would be short lived as FSC would score in three of the next four innings to pull ahead for good.  Florida Southern’s tying run came in the fourth after an infield error kept the frame alive.  Keith Curcio followed with a single up the middle to knot the contest at 2-2.

Chris Dennis started the fifth with a home run off Patrick.  Patrick closed out the inning and but ran into trouble in the sixth with runners on the corners and one out.  Coach Rudy Garbalosa went to the bullpen with First Team All-South Region reliever Bill Mendek, and the junior righty maneuvered through the Mocs lineup to keep the game close.

Another mistake, this time a passed ball, allowed Florida Southern to pad its lead with another run.  Lynn looked to cut into its deficit in the seventh with runners on the corners and one out but the Mocs went to their closer, Nate Carter, who shut the door on the rally.

Lynn reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time while earning the highest seed, No.2, in program history.  The team graduates nine seniors, including SSC and South Region Player of the Year Sal Giardina and All-South Region starting pitcher Jed Vandernaald but also returns All-SSC selections Alex DeBellis, Thomas Kain and Mendek.