MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Palm Beach Atlantic baseball team played their final two games of the season in a doubleheader matchup against Florida Tech. The 'Fish dominated game one, but dropped the second game in extra innings.
Senior
Drew Holweger would get his final start as a Sailfish in this game. He would pitch for six innings and give up there earned runs and strike out eight Panther batters. The 'Fish jumped out to an early lead with an impressive first inning.
Matthew Faranda would lead things off, getting on base with a single through the right side of the field.
Matty Warren was able to reach on a walk.
Mikey Casaleggio helped put the first Sailfish runs on the board with an RBI single to left field, which brought Faranda in to score. Back to back wild pitches from the Panthers allowed Warren to cross home plate for PBA's second run.
Jake Roper, playing in his final two games as a Sailfish, smashed a three-run homer to give PBA a 5-0 lead.
The 'Fish continued to score runs throughout the game, with one of their highest hit totals this season with 15.
Nate Housen went yard in the third inning, and
Matty Warren got in on the action with an RBI single to make the score 9-0 early in this game.
Jake Roper continued his hot hitting, smashing a solo home run to left field in the fourth inning.
Matthew Faranda tacked on some insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning with a three-run homer of his own, totaling four home runs on the day for the Sailfish.
Daniel Foster was able to close out the Panthers in the bottom of the ninth, ending the game with a dominating score of 15-3.
The second game was more tightly contested. PBA continued to be hot early, scoring two runs in the second inning.
Sean Houck and
Jake Roper would reach on a pair of singles and
Jiovel Lantigua would single to center field to bring Houck in to score. Roper would later get across home plate after a wild pitch from the Panthers. Florida Tech would cut the lead to one in the third inning off of an RBI sinlge, but a double play and a strike out from the Sailfish defense prevented any more damage.
In the sixth inning, the 'Fish looked to extend their lead.
Davis Blair would single to center field to bring Roper around to score for the second time, making the score 3-1 heading into the back half of the game. Florida Tech would not go down without a fight, however, tying the game up with runs in the eighth and ninth innings. Neither team was able to capitalize on their opportunities late in regulation, so the game was pushed to extra innings.
In the 11th inning,
Jiovel Lantigua homered to left field as the Sailfish looked to close the season out on a high note, but the Panthers had other plans. In the bottom half of the 11th, Florida Tech would walk the game off on a two-run home run.
PBA will now look to move on from this season and prepare for the 2023 spring season.
