WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 10) – After trailing 10-2 entering the seventh inning, the No. 20 University of Mount Olive baseball team rallied off 16 consecutive runs to earn an 18-11 comeback victory over Palm Beach Atlantic on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Trojans improve to 2-1 this season and remain undefeated down in the Sunshine State during their opening week of the season. Meanwhile, the Sailfish drop to 1-6 overall and fall to 0-4 this season versus Southeast Region opponents.
In the bottom of the first inning, Palm Beach Atlantic established a 5-0 advantage after tallying six hits, including four RBI singles. The Trojans countered in the top of the third after senior
Vito Patierno launched a solo homer, his first of the year, to trim the deficit to 5-1. Following a scoreless fourth frame, redshirt junior
Mike Kenney laced a single to left field before advancing to the third after a failed pickoff and a wild pitch. With two outs in the fifth, graduate student
Landon Choboy produced an RBI single to right field to close the gap to 5-2. The Sailfish extended their advantage in the bottom of the fifth after scoring three runs on three hits before tallying two more in the sixth to hold a 10-2 lead.
In the seventh inning, Patierno registered a leadoff single to right field before redshirt sophomore
Anthony Mitta drew a walk with one out. During the next at-bat, Choboy reached base on an error which allowed Patierno to score from second. Senior
Alden Cottle followed up with a double to left field to cut the deficit to 10-4. Mount Olive mounted an unbelievable comeback in the eighth inning after scoring eight runs on five hits, highlighted by a grand slam by redshirt freshman
Jon Howard, his first career homer, to take a 12-10 lead.
The Trojans recorded six insurance runs in the ninth frame, including an RBI single by Mitta and a two-run single to center field from senior
Joshua Kabayama to stretch the advantage to 18-10. Palm Beach Atlantic scored one more run in the bottom of the frame, as UMO completed the comeback victory, 18-11.
Redshirt freshman
Carter Gipson (1-0) earned the win after tossing 1.0 inning of scoreless relief with one strikeout. Redshirt senior
Greyson Linderman secured the save after yielding one run on four hits with three strikeouts over the final two innings. Redshirt senior starter
Erik Johnson surrendered five runs on seven hits while recording four strikeouts in 4.0 innings.
Mount Olive featured five players with multi-hit performances, as Mitta finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs, one walk, and three runs scored. Patierno went 2-for-5 with one RBI and three runs scored while Cottle finished 2-for-2 with two RBIs, three walks, two runs scored, and one stolen base. Howard registered a pair of hits with four RBIs and three runs scored while Kabayama tallied two hits and two RBIs.
Mount Olive closes out its Florida trip tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 11, when it travels to face Nova Southeastern at 1 p.m.
