Palm Beach Takes Game 3 From Eastern Florida

Lake Worth, FL -- Palm Beach State Baseball takes game #3 of the 3-game series against Eastern Florida, 3-2.

In a game that featured little offense, the Panthers managed to pull out a victory despite being outhit 5-7. Andrew Martinez led the charge for the Panthers offensively, leading the team with 2 hits and 2 crucial RBI, which tied the score at 2 and then took the lead 3-2.

Palm Beach fell behind 2-0 in the top of the 4th, 2 walks and a single loaded the bases for Eastern Florida. Roger Ceballos struck out Bryan Pena for the 2nd out of the inning, and it looked like the Panthers may get out of the inning unscathed. However, on a 1-1 pitch, 9-hole hitter Kevin Silva lined a Ceballos offering into left field for a 2-run single. Ceballos stopped the bleeding when he induced a fielder's choice at 3rd by 3rd baseman Ricky Neyman.

In the bottom of the inning, the Panthers came back with 2 of their own. Jefrey Encarnacion singled home Gabriel Marinez to score the team's 1st run of the game. He advanced to 3rd on an error by the shortstop who threw wide trying to nail the batter at the plate. Next batter, Andrew Martinez, singled home Encarnaion to tie the game at 2-2.

In the top of the 5th, the Panthers gave up a triple with 1 out on a misplay by left fielder Andrew Martinez. With the infield drawn in to prevent the go-ahead run, Roger Ceballos induced a weakly hit groundball to Ray Sanchez to get the out at 1st and prevented the runner at 3rd from advancing. Alex Dominguez came on in relief but had a hard time finding the strike zone, walking the only 2 batters he faced. Michael Demo relieved Dominguez and struck out Clayton Stanley to strand the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the inning, Yordy Cabrera picked up his first collegiate hit, a comebacker up the middle.

In the bottom of the 6th, the Panthers went ahead 3-2 on a groundball through the left side of the infield that scored Jefrey Encarnacion. Encarnacion and Martinez were able to reach base with 2 outs in the inning.

Michael Demo had the rest of the game in the bag as he allowed only 3 hits in his 4.1 innings in relief to earn his 3rd victory on the year.

The team rounds out their season with 3 games gainst Miami Dade. They will travel to Miami Dade on Wednesday and Saturday, while the final home game will be this Friday at 3:00 at the Lake Worth campus.

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