Lynn University Fighting Knights

BOCA RATON, Fla. – A night after needing 11 innings to pull out a victory, Lynn University’s baseball team dispatched No. 19 Mercyhurst with much more ease with a 6-1 win on Friday afternoon.  Kamm Washington went 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs batted in, including the game-tying RBI in the fifth.  The Fighting Knights improve to 9-4 overall.

Jerad Harvey made his first career start for the Blue & White, tossing two innings, allowing four hits and one run.  The junior right-hander ran into trouble in the opening frame when he surrendered three hits to load the bases but the Lakers (3-2) were only able to yield one run after he induced three infield ground balls and a pop fly.

Down 1-0 in fifth, Alex Bello walked on five pitches and moved across the diamond on a pair of ground balls to the right side of the infield.  Washington stepped to the plate and completely took the Lakers off-guard with a bunt toward second base.  Pitcher Eric Aschley made a diving attempt but by the time second baseman Kolin McMillen got a glove on the ball, Washington had sped through the bag and Bello evened the game.

Ryan Gibbard (2-0) and Shawn Kale were absolutely dominant on the mound in relief, holding Mercyhurst to one hit seven innings with eight strikeouts.  Gibbard no-hit the Lakers in four innings while Kale earned the three-inning save.

The Knights’ offense began to open up in the sixth with back-to-back hits by Austin Smith and Mike Diorio.  Diorio has hit safely in 12 of the 13 games this season.  After a wild pitch, Anthony Boza gave Lynn the lead with a sacrifice fly to deep right center field for his team-leading 16 RBI of the season.  Jason Matsuik made it a 3-1 LU advantage a batter later with his own sacrifice fly.

A Washington double in the seventh added Lynn’s fourth run of the game and put the contest nearly out of reach for the Lakers.  The Knights then added to the lead with two runs in the eighth with a two-run single by Joey Sharkey.

Lynn returns to action on Friday, March 2, at 2:30 p.m. when it hosts nationally-ranked Tampa.  Fans can follow the action live at LynnFightingKnights.com and receive in-game tweets from @LUKnights #LUBB.