On Tuesday, Florida Tech erased a five-run deficit en route to a 17-5 win over the Lynn Fighting Knights at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. Every starter in the Panthers lineup had a hit in the 21-hit attack by the home team.
Jakob Newton (4-for-5) and Dylan Owens (4-for-4) each had four hits and three RBIs. Alec Eldridge and Sam Schner had three hits apiece, and Dylan Dohanos and Brett Parrish had two each. The Panthers who have 20 triples on the season did not have one in this game and did all this damage without a home run.
Lynn (18-10) got to Panthers starter Preston Schumacher in the first inning, touching him up for four runs. He faced just five batters in the inning, with all four runs being earned. Jason Englert got the last two outs of the inning.
The Fighting Knights would add a run in the second against Daniel Vassallo to make it 5-0. To say Vassallo settled down from there would be an understatement.
The Panthers (23-7) got the offense in gear in the bottom of the second. Owens doubled and moved to third on a single by Eldridge. Diego Garcia’s single made it 5-1. Hayden Kimball would drive in another run and a walk would load the bases for Paul Castillo, who singled in another run. A sac fly by Newton made it 5-4.
The Fighting Knights would watch the lead disappear in the bottom of the fourth. RBI singles by Dohanos, Newton, and Parrish made it 7-5, before a two-run single by Owens made it 9-5.
Vassallo (4-1) got through the fifth inning, giving the Panthers four solid innings of relief. He would allow just three hits to go with that second-inning run. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven, throwing 61 pitches, 39 for strikes. His effort earned him the victory.
After Owens threw out his 12th runner of the season attempting to steal against him, the Panthers’ offense went to work in the bottom of the sixth.
After Owens RBI single made it 10-5, the Panthers would get a run on a wild pitch and as they attempted Lynn attempted to keep Eldridge from scoring on the wild pitch, they instead committed an error and the run crossed anyway.
Schner’s double then scored Garcia with the 13th run and Dohanos chased home two with his single. Newton, and Owens each had RBI singles to cap the scoring in the inning and for the game.
Samuel Orozco, Andres Rodriguez, Zach Rodgers, and Andrew Dunham each got an inning on the mound, keeping the Fighting Knights off the board.
For more info: Lynn @ Florida Tech Box Score
Despite being Sunshine State Conference foes, this was not a conference game and instead will count as a regional game. These two teams will meet in Boca Raton for a three-game conference series starting April 1.
Next on the docket for the Panthers is a three-game series this weekend against Florida Southern in Lakeland. The series starts this Friday with a 6:00 p.m. game.