By: Chad Beattie
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Two late-inning comebacks helped Lynn University’s baseball team sweep Florida Tech with 15-6 and 7-6 victories on Saturday. Anthony Boza went 6-for-8 with two home runs and eight runs batted in and Cory Elasik was 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs while Joe Perrotta and Austin Bailey allowed one run in 8.1 innings of combined relief. The 27th-ranked Fighting Knights improve to 24-11 overall and 8-4 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Despite his proficiency at the plate, it was Elasik’s legs that helped LU claim the three-game sweep over Florida Tech (22-15, 7-7 SSC). With game two knotted at six in the bottom of the fifth, the junior right fielder stole home against lefty James Mannara, sliding underneath the tag from catcher Brian Flynn for the game-winning run. Elasik had two swipes in the inning to move to a perfect 16-for-16 in stolen base attempts this season.
Lynn grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning behind the bat from Elasik. Starter Trevor Graham served up a two-run blast to the Starke, Fla., product, further taxing a pitching staff that allowed 30 runs in three contests.
The Panthers grabbed its second lead of the series in the third with a RBI single from K.C. Clabough, two-run home run from Ryan McChesney and solo home run by Scott Carcaise. It didn’t take long for the Blue & White to retake the lead as Boza smashed a three-run, opposite field bomb to chase Graham from the game. Eric Herrera then made it 6-4 with a RBI double inside the left field line.
Florida Tech managed to tie the game in the fourth behind Clabough, who knocked a two-out RBI single after a Lynn error. Jason Whelan stymied FIT through the first two innings before running into trouble over the next two, giving way to Bailey. The right-hander from Jacksonville, Fla., allowed just one hit over 3.1 innings to pick up his team-leading fifth victory on the mound.
Ryan Gibbard looked dominating on the hill in game one, fanning five batters in the first two frames and finishing with seven Ks in four innings. The Panthers were able to jump on the Loxahatchee, Fla., native in the fourth and fifth innings, bringing Perrotta into the game.
Perrotta (3-2) scattered seven hits over five innings but allowed just one run.
Lynn added the first run in the second off a Paul Stortini RBI single but Alex Alfonso squared things up in the third. Elasik put LU back on top in the third with a single down the third base line but Clabough drove in three with a bases-clearing two-out double in the fourth inning.
Just as quickly as Florida Tech gained the lead, Boza took it away. The senior from Miami, Fla., smashed a 0-1 fastball from Tyler Carman into the trees for a grand slam, putting Lynn on top 6-4. The Panthers looked as though they would keep things close by cutting the deficit to 6-5 in the fifth but LU stomped out rallying thoughts by scoring nine runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
Stortini, Boza, Herrera and Austin Smith all logged RBI base hits before Jason Matusik launched a two-run shot to right field for his fourth home run of the year.