West Palm Beach, Fla. - A three-game SSC series that saw plenty of delays in its first two days proved to be worth the wait on Sunday as Florida Tech and Palm Beach Atlantic split a doubleheader that saw the two teams combined for 48 runs and 58 hits over the two games. 
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Game 1 Final: Palm Beach Atlantic 23, Florida Tech 11
Game 2 Final: Florida Tech 8, Palm Beach Atlantic 6
Records: Florida Tech (22-21, 11-13 SSC) | Palm Beach Atlantic (21-25, 9-18 SSC)
Location: J.M. "Jake" Rubin Park | West Palm Beach, Fla.  
 
STATS OF GAME 1:

• The Panthers took a first inning lead on Saturday afternoon thanks to Brett Kelly's fourth home run of the season.
• Sam Schner would help manufacture Tech's second run the following inning by reaching on a fielding error by PBA shortstop Mikey Casaleggio. Tate Hansen's single would move Schner to third, who then came home on an Austin Sewell RBI single. 
• Following the bottom of the second, the game would be suspended for the rest of Saturday due to thunderstorms in the West Palm Beach area and resumed just after 3 P.M. Sunday.
• Christian Galindo would take over on the mound from starting pitcher Mitch Harding when the game resumed and immediately ran into trouble. 
• Matty Warren led off the bottom of the third with a triple to right and was driven in shortly thereafter on a Ben Green single.
• After hitting Matthew Faranda with a pitch, Galindo struck out Nate Housen before surrendering an RBI double to Casaleggio that tied the game.
• Dre Llopiz and Michael Schettino struck out before Davis Blair's grand slam put the Sailfish ahead.
• After the first three batters reached in the bottom of the fourth, Aiden Beechy would come in from the bullpen to help get Florida Tech out of the jam while allowing only a sacrifice fly from Llopiz.
• The Crimson and Gray would get a run back in the top of the fifth on Brett Parrish's second home run of the campaign.
• The Sailfish struck back immediately in the bottom half of the inning when two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for Faranda with one out. His double down the line would drive in two before Beechy induced a pair of flyouts to end the inning.
• Kelly's two-out single in the top of the sixth set up an RBI opportunity for Gavin McGowan, who would promptly cash in with a to left to make it 9-4.
• Once again, PBA would counter by putting the game away in the bottom half of the sixth, which was led off by a Llopiz single.
• Schettino and Blair each followed with RBI doubles of their own and after a walk to Jeremy Texel, Beechy was lifted for Carter Cooke.
• Cooke was greeted with an RBI single from Warren and then an infield single from Green that resulted in a run scored after a Jason Blackstone throwing error.
• The frame was capped off by a three-run homer off the bat of Faranda. 
• An RBI single and a Blackstone throwing error would allow the Sailfish to tack on two more runs in the seventh.
• Austin Sewell would be hit by a pitch to start the top of the eighth, then advanced on a Blackstone single and a wild pitch before coming home on a sacrifice fly compliments of Kelly.
• The Sailfish would put up five more runs in the bottom of the eighth through five walks, a wild pitch from Panther pitching in addition to a sacrifice fly.
• Florida Tech would post a six-run top of the ninth inning with Parrish cracking his second homer of the game and would later on in the frame drive in another run. Andrew Bourque and Gabe Garrett would also bring runs home in the inning, but the deficit ultimately proved too large.
• Parrish's four-hit outing led the Crimson and Gray, who ended up tallying 17 hits in total for Game 1. 

 
 
STATS OF GAME 2:

• The Panthers went to work right away in the second game as Blackstone led off the game with a single to left and then moved to third on a Kelly double to right. Alec Eldridge followed with a double into the right centerfield gap that plated two and put Tech ahead. 
• PBA would bring things back on terms against Florida Tech starter Dylan Cleveland in the bottom of the third. The rally began with a one-out Warren single, followed by a walk to Green. 
• Faranda would bring everyone home with his second three-run homer of the day to tie the affair.
• The Crimson and Gray would retake the lead the following frame with Parrish starting the surge with a leadoff single to right. He would advance to second on a wild pitch to McGowan, who eventually walked. Schner's single to right brought home Parrish and a fielding error by Green allowed McGowan to score all the way from first and Schner to reach third.
• A sacrifice fly from Hansen brought in Schner and the Panthers continued to grind at the plate as Garrett singled and advanced on a wild pitch. After a Blackstone groundout, throwing allowed Kelly to reach with two out.
• Eldridge would make that error costly as he took Dan Beebe's offering the other way to left for an RBI single and cap the inning.
• Cleveland's biggest test of the day would come in the bottom of the inning, where the Sailfish loaded the bases with two out. He would ace that test, however, inducing a Casaleggio groundout back to the mound.
• Tech would continue to tack on in the top of the sixth when three straight two-out singles, the last of them coming from Eldridge, brought home another Panther run. 
• The Sailfish would get a run back in the seventh against Zach Rodgers when Giovany Lorenzo's infield single scored Housen. Rodgers would limit the damage to just that by getting Blair to ground out.
• Andrew Dunham would come in for the bottom of the eighth, but two singles and a throwing error would cut the lead to 8-5 and Ridge Skarbek would be called upon from the bullpen.
• Following a Warren single, Skarbek would get a critical double play to help limit the rally. 
• Faranda's single brought home Texel to bring PBA within two but after a walk to Housen, Skarbek would get Casaleggio to fly out to right to end the game as the umpires ended the game due to time constraints. 
• Cleveland earned his fourth win of the season by allowing three runs on five hits in five innings.
• Eldridge and Schner both had three-hit efforts to pace Tech's 13-hit outburst in Game 2. 
• Blackstone and Kelly each recorded multi-hit games in both ends of the doubleheader.

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• The Panthers are now 58-30 all-time against the Sailfish.
• Blackstone's fourth inning single in Game 1 and first inning single in Game 2 extended his on-base streak to 39 consecutive games.
• Parrish's home run in Game 1 was the 50^th extra-base hit of his career. His multi-homer effort was the first of his career and his four-hit game was the fourth of his career. 
• Eldridge's four RBI in Game 2 brought his season total to 34, a new career high. 

UP NEXT: The Panthers will return to action next Sunday, May 7^th, as they start their final home series of the season with a doubleheader against Florida Southern. First pitch is scheduled for 1 P.M. and will be preceded by Senior Day festivities. 

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