WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Palm Beach Atlantic baseball team battled back after a Friday night loss to the Eckerd Tritons to take both games of the doubleheader and the series on Saturday afternoon. The Sailfish came out on the right side of two very different games with one being a pitcher's duel and the other a high scoring affair. The Sailfish scratched by the Tritons by a score of 2-1 in game one and exploded for an eighth run eighth inning in game two to complete the series win by a score of 13-6.
The Sailfish return to the diamond on Tuesday when they head down I-95 for a midweek non-conference matchup at 6 p.m. at Barry.
Game One
Daniel Foster got the start for the Sailfish in just his fourth start of the season. Foster got through six total innings while giving up one run on seven hits and one walk. He also had two strikeouts on 91 pitches. Foster earned just his second decision of the season despite some great pitching and moved to 2-0 with the win. Steve Trone earned the three inning save and only allowed one hit and gave up no runs with one strikeout in 26 pitches. Trone added two strikeouts of his own.
Aaron Izquierdo broke the ice for the Sailfish in the bottom of the third when he scored on a wild pitch. Jake McNamara knocked in what ended up being the winning run in Chris Amparo on an infield single in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Game Two
Nolan Smoot, the normal Friday night starter, got the ball to start game number three for the Sailfish. Smoot threw 74 pitches over 5.1 innings. He allowed seven hits and two runs with one walk and five strikeouts. A.J. Prendergast came on in relief and got through 0.2 innings in 28 pitches while allowing two runs. The next pitcher for the 'Fish, Zachary Orloff, threw one inning and gave up two hits and two runs on 17 pitches. Isaac Beebe, the final pitcher for PBA, ended up with the win in two innings pitched. Beebe gave up no hits and no runs with two strikeouts and no walks on 21 pitches.
PBA started the game off hot and looked like they would cruise to a series victory after RBI doubles from Chris Amparo and Finley Holmes gave them a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning. However, Eckerd did not go away quietly. The Tritons roared back with six unanswered runs to take a 6-3 lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Jake McNamara roped a single into right field to score Aaron Vetter. Ben Green followed that up with an RBI double to score McNamara and bring the Sailfish back within one.
The Sailfish exploded with an eight-spot in the bottom of the eighth. Aidan Pierre drew a walk with the bases loaded to tie the game at six. Ben Green followed with an RBI single to left field that scored two runs to give the Sailfish the lead. Matt Faranda added some insurance runs with a two RBI double to bring the lead to 10-6 for PBA. Chris Amparo added the exclamation point to the inning and the game with a three-run bomb to push the lead to seven. The Sailfish locked down the Tritons in the top of the ninth to complete the comeback victory.
