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BASEBALL NEWS |
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Sports Release March 25, 2008 Lincoln Memorial Blanks 15th-Ranked Panthers 3-0 MELBOURNE, FL -- Florida Tech, ranked 15th in the most recent NCBWA poll and 25th in the Collegiate Baseball poll, had a rough time against Lincoln Memorial Tuesday afternoon as the Panthers were shut out 3-0 by freshman lefthander Steven Starbird. With the loss, Tech drops to 24-9-1 on the season, while the Railsplitters improve to 21-14-1. LMU got on the board right off the bat, scoring one in the first off a single up the middle by Casey Sedley, which brought in Storm Kaufman. It took a little while for the Panthers’ bats to get warmed up, but they had a chance to score in the bottom of the second when Tyler Wright, who walked, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by LMU catcher Bryon Izzo. The Panthers were unable to convert, however. The Railsplitters took a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth when John Couch doubled to right and then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt before heading for home on a sac fly to center. In the bottom half of the inning, Tim Gonyer, who got the start behind the plate, started what the Panthers hoped was a two-out rally with a double to left field, but once again a Tech runner was left on base with nowhere to go. Freshman righthander Randall Thompson took the mound to start the sixth and pitched two scoreless innings, giving up just two hits with three strikeouts to lead the Panther’s rotation for the day. Once again, Tech had runners on with two outs and a chance to rally in the sixth, but Starbird issued one of his six Ks on the day to strand two more. Lincoln Memorial tacked on a third and final run in the ninth as Shane Kaufman, who reached on a fielder’s choice, advanced to third on a Couch single, then scored on a throwing error to make it 3-0. With Tech’s final opportunity on the line, Michael Demma belted his seventh double of the year into left center and later advanced to third when Ray Valdes, who came in to hit for Eric Trillas in the seventh, reached on a Railsplitter error. But a groundout to short ended the day for the Panthers. Andrew Buonanni was dealt his second loss of the season, giving up one run on two hits with two strikeouts. Jake Koch and Erik Bua accounted for the other two LMU runs, though the run in the ninth was unearned by Bua. Demma had two of Tech’s four hits in the effort and led the team with 12 putouts. Starbird picked up his third victory of the season, while Couch led the Railsplitter hitting effort, going 3-for-4. TeWayne Willis and Sedley recorded the two RBI in the win. -LMU- For additional
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