LAKE WORTH, Fla.- A two-out double by Luis Mejia plated pinch-runner Michael Lyon from first-base as Lyon’s slide beat the relay throw home and the host Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish claimed a heartbreaking 2-1 win over Saint Leo in action from south Florida on Saturday afternoon.
The loss gives Palm Beach Atlantic (10-4) the sweep over the Lions (3-8) who lost game one by a score of 8-5 on Friday night.
Although much of the excitement happened on the game’s final play, the two starting pitchers presented something pretty entertaining themselves as PBA’s T.J. Harbuck and SLU’s Shaun Gough each shut down the opposing lineup in an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel.
With the score 0-0 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, the Fish would scratch out an unearned run as Travis Murray came in to score on another fielding error by the Lions defense. Murray had doubled earlier in the inning and would push PBA in front 1-0.
Making his third start of the season for PBA, Harbuck would return to the hill in the top of the eighth inning with a 1-0 lead as he hoped to complete another scoreless inning. The Lions would rally as they got things going in the next frame with a leadoff single from Michael Callahan. Playing small-ball, Head Coach Russ McNickle advanced him with a sacrifice bunt before Frank Rawdow drove home the game-tying run with a sharp single up the middle.
After tying the score at one run apiece, the Lions would make a pitching change with Gough handing the ball to Adam Albers who would take the loss to drop to 0-1 on the season.
Gough used a good mixture of spotting his fastball and mixing in his breaking pitches all afternoon as he kept PBA at bay for the most part, allowing only three hits in eight innings on the mound while striking out nine batters and walking only one.
Graham White earned the win, his first of the season, by pitching a scoreless top of the ninth inning.
Rawdow’s game-tying single helped him go 1-for-2 with an RBI as he played from the DH position.
Mejia was the only player for either team to register a multi-hit game as he finished 2-for-4 at the plate.
Looking to reverse this recent winless streak, the Lions will get another crack as they return home to face St. Anselm College on Sunday afternoon. The doubleheader is scheduled to get underway at 1:00 p.m. at Thomas B. Southard Stadium on the Saint Leo campus.
Portions courtesy of Palm Beach Atlantic Sports Information
