Baseball Eliminated from NCAA Tournament
By: Chad Beattie
Tampa, Fla. – Lynn University’s baseball season came to a close following an 8-4 loss to fifth-seeded Nova Southeastern in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament. Cory Elasik went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in at the plate while Kamm Washington provided some offensive punch with a 2-for-2 day and two RBI. The Fighting Knight’s, who were the No. 3 seed, end the year 35-15 overall.
An error in the first helped put the Blue & White on top 1-0. Shortstop Blake Boyd threw a routine ball to second into right field, allowing Mike Diorio to reach third base. Elasik then drove home the first run of the game with a squeeze bunt down the first base line.
Knights’ starter Kentrail Pierce had little trouble through the first four innings of work but wildness led to Nova Southeastern (35-15) grabbing a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Brett Clements led off the frame with a four pitch walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and reached third and home on consecutive wild pitches. Areo Regoli then drove in the second run with a two-out triple.
The Sharks tacked on another run in the sixth, pushing Lynn’s back against the wall. Washington came through in the clutch in the seventh, though, lacing a two-out, two-run triple to left center field in an 11-pitch pinch-hit at bat to knot the game at 3-3.
Lynn’s offensive momentum carried over into the eighth when Mike Diorio led off with a double. Elasik stepped to the plate once again and drove a 0-2 change-up into right center field to put LU on top 4-3.
Nova Southeastern appeared to be down with the lead-off batter, Alex Marrero, falling behind 0-2 in the count. But back-to-back hit batsmen, followed by a miscue on a sacrifice bunt, allowed the Sharks to load the bases with no outs. Clements followed with a bases clearing double before Javi Sujo drove in two more for the 8-4 NSU advantage.
Lynn had a fantastic 2012 season, earning its highest seeding for an NCAA Tournament (third) and finishing with the best Sunshine State Conference record (16-6) in program history. Additionally, head coach Rudy Garbalosa was named SSC Coach of the Year for the first time while Anthony Boza collected SSC, Daktronics and NCBWA South Region Player of the Year accolades.
