Coach Garbalosa
His players have given him everything they have got for 15 years. Sometimes there were losses but today, after trailing 2-0, Lynn University’s 11th ranked baseball team came back to give head coach Rudy Garbalosa his 450th career victory. Robert Guarnieri struck out five in five innings on the mound andAlex DeBellis went 3-for-4 with a home run and three runs batted in. The Fighting Knights improve to 12-3 overall and look toward a showdown with undefeated Florida Tech this weekend.
Garbalosa’s first win came February 6, 2001 at home against Northwood (Fla.) and now just over 15 years later, the Blue & White skipper has turned in win No. 450. He ranks in the top-50 in NCAA Division II for wins among active coaches while his .586 winning percentage is just outside the top-50.
The victory looked to be on shaky ground after a first inning in which Southern New Hampshire (5-4) logged two runs on four hits off of Guarnieri (1-0), who was making only his second career start. The sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., settled down and tossed shutout ball over the next four frames while setting a new career-high with five strikeouts.
While it took Lynn nearly seven innings to get its offense going the previous game, Garbalosa’s squad needed only the bottom of the first to start swinging the lumber. DeBellis cut his team’s deficit in half with a bases loaded single and Albert Lefran followed with another RBI single to knot the game at two.
DeBellis then launched his second home run of the season when he turned on the first pitch he saw from reliever Stephen Fortuna to put the Fighting Knights ahead for good, 4-2. Fortuna would leave in the fourth when Matt Tietz drove home Thomas Kain on a double down the left field line.
The Penmen gave themselves some hope in the top of the eighth when Alejandro Diaz drove home Mike Montville off a sacrifice fly but Kain erased any thoughts of a comeback from SNHU when he let loose a two-run bomb into the trees in left field. He finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and two RBI.
John Borup also recorded a multi-hit game by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. In addition, DeBellis swiped two more bases to give him a share of the team lead with six.
Jonathon Wake tossed a season-high three innings while also fanning a career-best three batters. He allowed one run on three hits. Kyle Schindler closed out the game with a perfect ninth.