WINGATE, N.C. - Palm Beach Atlantic baseball performed brilliantly in all aspects of the game Friday night against fellow Sunshine State Conference member Florida Tech. The Sailfish (2-1) combined a superior night on the rubber with a high powered offense at the plate to defeat the Panthers (1-4) by a final score of 12-2 in the opening game of the weekend in North Carolina. 

Christian Denton twirled a gem against the Panthers going seven innings while not surrendering a run and picking up his first win of the season to put his record at 1-0. Denton only gave up four hits while striking out eight on 91 pitches on Friday night.

The Sailfish wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as they tacked on two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Derek Schwimer showed his speed leading the game off with an infield single before Sean Houck got a knock to left field. Brandon Seltzer then plated Schwimer from second base with a single through the left side. The Sailfish added a second run in the inning when Brandon Smith hit a grounder back to the pitcher that was hard to handle and allowed Houck to scamper home safely. 

PBA's offense would not stop there. The 'Fish added five more runs in the bottom of the second on four hits, two of which were long balls. Carlos Lara started the scoring with a two-run opposite field homer that scored Robert Fabelo who had singled in the previous at-bat. Later in the inning Seltzer stepped up, with Houck and Ramon Machado on base, and launched a tape measure shot to left field that landed halfway up the batting cage beyond the left field wall putting the Sailfish up 7-0 after two innings. 

The 'Fish added two more runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch. The Sailfish wouldn't stop there as they added three more runs on three hits in the seventh inning to push the score to 12-0. The Panthers would end up getting two runs in the top of the ninth to make the final score 12-2. 

Mitchell Price made his Sailfish debut going one inning with two strikeouts while facing the minimum three batters in the eighth.

Leading the Sailfish at the plate tonight was Seltzer who had four hits and four RBIs while scoring two runs. Fabelo had three hits in the game while Lara and Machado each had two. Jeremy Texel had his first collegiate hit tonight in a pinch hit appearance in the eighth inning.

Palm Beach Atlantic will be back in action tomorrow as they take on Valdosta State at 4 p.m. in Wingate, N.C.