WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Senior Zach Daley belted his first career home run as a Lion, accounting for both Saint Leo University runs as the Lions dropped a 6-2 decision to South Region rival Palm Beach Atlantic University, in Friday night's opening game of a three-game series at Rubin Park.

Daley hit his round-tripper in the top of the seventh. Mike Mann led off the inning with a single into left field, and Daley took the first delivery from PBA starter Kyle Polaski over the fence in right-center and cut Palm Beach Atlantic's lead to 6-2.

The Lions threatened to add more runs in the seventh after getting runners on first and second on a Shane Williams single and walk drawn by Bryan Nunez. The Sailfish brought in reliever David Paul to get out of the jam, and Paul picked off Williams at second base to close the inning.

Daley, Williams, and Lane Stancil each finished the game with a pair of hits for Saint Leo. The Lions charted nine hits to PBA's eight, but left five runners stranded.

Palm Beach Atlantic put its first two runs on the board in the opening inning, on a two-run shot by Peter Rivera. The Sailfish tacked on a single run in the fifth on a Jake Sumney RBI single to right field, and plated three more runs in the sixth inning. Rivera tripled home his third RBI of the night to extend PBA's lead to 4-0, and base hits by Kyle Simon and Andrew Calderone each brought in one additional run.

Saint Leo starter Andrew Cohen recorded three strikeouts over his five-and-a-third innings on the mound, allowing six runs, four earned, on seven hits in the loss. Ethan Lichtenberg and Jimmy Moore combined to finish out the game, with Moore holding the Sailfish hitless over one-and-two-thirds innings of work.

Polaski was credited with the win for Palm Beach Atlantic, improving to 4-1 on the season. He yielded eight hits to the Lions with three strikeouts and one walk.

The Sailfish and Lions complete their three-game series on Saturday, Feb. 27, with a doubleheader starting at noon. Please note this start time is a change from its previous start time of 1:00 p.m.

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