March 15, 2008

Box Score

Miami Gardens, Fla. - No. 13 St. Thomas (9-10) completed two comebacks to sweep the doubleheader against the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish (8-19) on Saturday at Frank R. Esposito Stadium. The Bobcats and Sailfish scored over 35 runs and racked up 37 hits in game one, with St. Thomas winning 19-16. In game two, J.C. Gil walk-off home run gave the Bobcats a 7-6 victory.

Game one

St. Thomas scored a season-high 19 runs in game one of the doubleheader and they needed every single run for the win.

The Bobcats spotted the Sailfish five first inning runs, with the assistant of two STU errors and were facing a 7-0 deficit after three innings.

In the third inning, Juan Santana's two-run double and Marlon Pascual (3-for-5) triple scored the Bobcats first two runs of the game. St. Thomas added three runs in the fifth from Pascual, Nick Martinez and J.C. Perez.

Nursing a two run lead entering the sixth inning, PBA's Zach Grau hit a three-run homer and first baseman Tony Livelsberger followed with a solo jack to give the Sailfish a 12-6 lead.

The lead was extending to eight in the seventh, when the Bobcats' offense exploded in their half of the inning. The Bobcats scored 10 runs, including a Richard Bandrich three-run home run and a DePhillip Mason solo shot, for a 16-14 advantage.

PBA answered in the eighth with two runs to tie the game at 16-16, setting up an eighth inning comeback by the Bobcats. Santana blasted his second homer of the year, driving home two, and Mason connected with his second long ball of the game for a 19-16 Bobcats lead.

STU reliever Chris Cuadro shutdown the Sailfish in the ninth to pick up his second win of the season.

Game Two

The Bobcats used a three run rally to force extra innings in game two.

Both teams' bats cooled off in the backend of the doubleheader, combining for four hits and zero runs through three innings.

PBA opened the scoring in the fourth and STU's Lance Larimer solo homer to right field tied the game at 1-1 in the Bobcats half of the inning.

The fifth inning saw the Sailfish take a 4-1 lead. Grau continued his strong hitting performance with a two RBIs double and the Sailfish scored another run on a throwing error.

The Bobcats answered in the bottom of the fifth.

Mason, who entered the game with one home run on the season, launched a two-run shot to right field for his first of the game and third of the day, cutting the PBA's lead to one.

The one run lead for PBA was extended to three when Nick Norley's blooper down the right field line scored two Sailfishes.

St. Thomas second comeback of the day started in the seventh. With the bases loaded, Mason's fly ball was dropped by the centerfielder, allowing one run to score. Manny Escalona, then, singled to centerfield driving home two Bobcats for a 6-6 tie.

Freshman J.C. Gil led off the eighth inning with a walk-off solo home run, on a full-count, to win the game for St. Thomas 7-6.

Jesus Blanco (3-0) struck out six and walked three in the complete game effort.

St. Thomas will be back in action on March 18 against Nyack in Miami Gardens, Fla.