WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - In a game that featured 20 runs, 26 hits, 15 walks and eight hit by pitches, the USCB baseball team was edged by Webber International in a slug fest, 11-9, as the Sand Sharks bowed out of the Sun Conference Tournament on Friday afternoon at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Nick Milhan - 2-for-4, two singles, two RBIs
Leandy Castro - 2-for-6, two-run homer, two RBI, two runs
Brian Meyer - 2-for-3, double, single, three walks, two run
Kyran Russ - 1-for-2, single, two RBIs, three walks, one run
Clint Sellars - 1-for-3, single, two walks, one run
Brock Thibodeaux - 2-for-5, two singles, two runs
Donavan Huneck - one inning, two hits, no runs, no walks
Tucker Perry - 2.2 innings, two hits, one run, three walks, one strikeout
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Scott Matthews mowed down the WIU lineup in the top of the first, USCB's offense wasted no time getting runs on the board. Castro singled to left center, and Meyer poked a single of his own to put two on base. Sellars drew a quality at-bat, as he walked to force the bases loaded with no outs. Russ drew a run-scoring walk to make the game 1-0. Thanks to a throwing error, two Sand Sharks players touched home to make it a three-run game with no outs. Milhan then promptly scored two more on his single, as he was thrown out at second, but not before USCB plated five runs in the frame.
Webber found some momentum in the second when the Warriors scored two runs. Luis Acevedo and Angel Diaz came up with RBI singles to cut the deficit to three, 5-2.
In the home half of the second, USCB had a prime chance to add more runs. Meyer cracked a double, and Sellars and Russ both drew walks, However, all three Sand Sharks were left stranded.
After each team was held off the scoreboard in the third, the two clubs exchanged lone runs in the fourth to make it a 6-3 contest. Kenny Rodriguez earned the sac fly for WIU, while Russ earned the RBI with a two-out hit.
The Warriors used four hits and a walk to tie the game at six apiece in the fifth.
After leaving two Sand Sharks stranded in the bottom of the fifth, Webber International's offense came unhinged in the top of the sixth. The Warriors plated four runs to take their first lead of the contest, 10-6.
USCB, down for the first time in the game, pulled it back within three in the bottom of the sixth. With the bases loaded, Ambrose hit into a 4-6-3 double play, but it allowed Meyer to score to make it a 10-7 game.
With three innings left, both teams threw out their closers - USCB's Perry and WIU's Rey Rodriguez. Both players held their own during that stretch. Perry let up a run on one hit in the eighth to make it 11-7.
Rodriguez had some trouble in the ninth. Thibodeaux laced a single with two outs, and Castro added on to his career home run record with a two-run blast to left to pull within two. However, that was as close as USCB would get in the narrow two-run loss, 11-9.
TEAM RECORD UPDATES
No. 6 USCB - 26-27 overall
No. 5 Webber International - 38-18 overall
