MELBOURNE, Fla. (Baseball) - Florida Tech defeated the No. 10 Lynn Fighting Knights in their series opener on Friday night. The Panthers outscored the Knights 8-5 at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. With an impressive rally that came late in the seventh inning, the Panthers managed to pull ahead of the Fighting Knights while holding Lynn scoreless after the fifth inning.

The game took off in the third inning when the Knights scored two runs, but the Panthers quickly answered in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own, when Nick Capra hit a triple to right center. Lynn answered in the top of the fourth with three more runs, but the Panthers managed to shut them out for the remainder of the game.

Capra hit a sac bunt that brought in the Panthers second run of the game, which brought the score to 5-2. The score remained the same until the seventh inning when John Sternagel hit a two-run homer to left center, which brought the score to 5-4.

The Panthers carried that energy into the eighth inning, when Grant McKown hit a double to right center, which brought in another run. Sternagel steps up to the plate again and hits yet another home run, this time to center field, which brought in two more runs.

Capra finished off the night with an RBI single to left field, which brought the Panthers three runs ahead, with a final score of 8-5.

Starting pitcher Ty Cohen gave quite a performance during the game, when he pitched an impressive eight innings and only allowed five runs off of six hits. Cohen faced 31 batters, struck out five, and managed to only walk two. Drew Beyer came in to close in the final inning, and struck out two of the three batters he faced in a quick 1-2-3 inning. 

The Panther offense also had a great outing when they collected eight runs off of fourteen hits. Sternagel went 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. Dan Szpik and Reid Neil both went 2-for-4 on the night and collected two runs apiece. Capra went 3-for-3 with three RBI, one being a triple to right center. Florida Tech collectively hit three doubles and grabbed four stolen bases, which brought them to their victory over No. 10 Lynn.

The Panthers continue the series against the Fighting Knights on Saturday with a double header set to begin at 12 p.m. ET at Andy Seminick-Les Hall Field. For live coverage, log on to floridatechsports.com/live