TAMPA, Fla. - The Palm Beach Atlantic baseball team began its second series of the season as they traveled to Tampa to face the No. 3 ranked Spartans. The Sailfish failed to get their offense going against Spartans pitching as they fell 7-0.
PBA turned to their ace
Christian Denton to start the series against a high-powered Tampa side. The Spartans jumped on the Sailfish starter in the first inning as two-hole hitter E.J. Cumbo took a Denton offering out of the park to right field. Tampa strung together three straight singles to tac on a second run in the inning. After the first, Denton settled into a rhythm cruising through the fourth inning with no further damage. Things changed in the fifth as Denton went through the Spartan lineup for the third time and didn't help his own cause by leading off the frame with a walk which led to a two-run inning. He failed to make it through the next inning as his day was ended after throwing 80 pitches, going 5.2 innings while surrendering seven hits and five runs.
Once the bullpen entered the game, the Sailfish went on to walk four consecutive batters which gave the Spartans two more runs as they ended the sixth innings leading 6-0 over the 'Fish. The Sailfish offense was quieted by Tampa starter Michael Paul who went 5.1 innings allowing just two hits while striking out four.
Sean Houck was the first Sailfish batter to reach base when he singled in the 6th. The biggest Sailfish threat didn't come until the eighth inning when the Sailfish loaded the bases with two outs but
Ramon Machado's deep fly ball was caught on the warning track to end the inning.
The Sailfish ended the game with five hits as they left seven runners on base as they failed to score for the first time this season. The Spartans finished with nine hits including three from Cumbo. The Sailfish relief combination of
Ruiari Murphy,
Drew Holweger, and
Andrew Sieczkowski went 2.1 innings in relief of Denton allowing two runs and one inherited run which is charged to Denton while walking six batters and striking out four.
The Sailfish and Spartans will continue their series when the two sides will play a doubleheader at J.M. Jake Rubin Park on Saturday. The first game will begin at 5 pm and the second game will be a shortened seven inning contest.
