WINTER HAVEN, FL.. --
Ryan McIntyre had three hits and two RBIs Thursday and southpaw
Tyson Luna threw four scoreless innings of relief to help the Amherst College baseball team rally past Franklin & Marshall, 8-6, at Chain of Lakes Stadium.
The Mammoths scored four runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth to erase an 4-2 deficit and improve to 3-2 on their spring break trip to Florida. The Mammoths conclude their trip with a night game Friday against Rowan University at Lake Myrtle Park. First pitch is 6:45 p.m.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* McIntyre ignited the four-run seventh with a lead-off double.
Jack McDermott followed with a line drive single through the left side that scored McIntyre, and he took second when the ball was mishandled by the Diplomats' left fielder. McDermott went to third on a wild pitch and, after an out, scored the tying run when
Luke Padian's groundball was misplayed.
Chris Murphy muscle a single back through the box to put runners on first and second. Both runners moved up on another wild pitch.
Christian Fagnant followed with a high pop up behind the bag at third. Like several other high flyballs and pop-ups in this game, this was was lost, dropping safely about 10 feet past the infield. as both Amherst runners scored for a 6-4 lead.
* In the eighth, both
Jack Boyle and McIntyre opened the frame with well struck balls. Boyle's went for a double and McIntyre's an RBI-triple. McDermott scored McIntyre with a sacrifice fly to right field.
* The sun may have played a major role in the game, but Luna and
Alan Dai gave the Mammoths seven innings of stalwart relief to steal the spotlight. Luna (1-0) came on in the third inning and took Amherst through the end of the sixth, giving up only two hits and two walks while allowing no runs. Dai came on to earn his first save, allowing two runs, one earned and only two hits and two walks while striking out four.
* While the defense was not always top notch on this day, the Mammoths had each outfielder make plays of note. In the bottom of the fifth, right fielder McDermott ranged far to his right into the right-center field gap and dover at the last second to prevent a single. The very next batter lined a shot to center that Boyle raced in on, diving forward at the last moment to catch the ball just above the grass. In the sixth, it was left fielder
Jack Dove who tracked down a lofted fly ball down the left field line. It seemed destined to fall until Dove's dive snared the ball inches from the ground.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Amherst finished with 12 hts. Fagnant, Dove and Boyle had two each.
* Each team had a combination of walks and hits that equaled 16.
* The Diplomats had three errors, the Mammoths two.
