WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The No.14 Rhodes baseball team hit their way to a decisive 10-2 victory over the No. 8 University of Southern Maine on Friday.
The Lynx improve to 16-3 on the season, while the Huskies were dealt their first loss of the season, and fall to 4-1.
Rhodes wasted no time getting on the board, as
Ryan Olive batted in
Justin Genter to start the contest, and gave the Lynx an early 1-0 lead. Head coach
Jeff Cleanthes squad posted a big second frame, with six runs scored in the inning. Small ball got things done for the Lynx, with a Genter bunt bringing in
Marcus Moreland for the Lynx third run. An Olive single to left field on the next at bat brought in two more runners, for the 5-0 lead.
The productive inning continued, with singles from
David Balaguer,
Will Gietema and Olive that each scored one. Rhodes headed out of the third with a solid 8-0 lead. Southern Maine tacked on two runs in the bottom of the frame to post a score of 8-2.
Rhodes didn't let up, and added another set of runs in the sixth and ninth innings, with an
Andrew Wallis single to left field, bringing in Olive. The final Lynx run came in the final inning when
Bill Munson batted in Bennett Notestein to post the 10-2 win.
The Rhodes offense rallied for 14 hits on the day, with Genter and Olive pacing the Lynx with three hits apiece. Olive tallied four RBIs in the outing.
Daniel Morris threw his second complete game of the season, going the distance in all nine innings of play. While on the mound, the junior stuck out five batters in route to his fourth win of the season.
Rhodes will be back in action on Saturday in its spring break finale against Babson College on March 14.
