Bears Rally to Win Florida Opener 15-14 in 11 Innings

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Senior Ed Lazowski had a two-out single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11^th giving Coast Guard a 15-14 win over Baruch in the Bears first of eight games at the Gene Cusic Classic.

The Bears, who led 5-1 after five innings, saw Baruch score five in the sixth and seven more in the eighth to take a 14-7 lead over the Bears.

Coast Guard got three runs in the eighth with sophomore Zach Serna delivering a two-run double to make the score 14-10.

In the home half of the ninth, senior Kyle Wood drew a bases loaded walk, freshman Will Stevens, who doubled, scored on a passed ball and sophomore Alex Murdoch delivered a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 14-13. Junior Kyle Jackson tied the game on an RBI single.

Freshman Walter Harris made his collegiate debut in relief in the tenth and worked two innings allowing just one hit while striking out a batter to get the win.

Coast Guard scored in the 11^th as Wood and Murdoch had back-to-back one out singles before a passed ball moved them to second and third. Serna was intentionally walked and following a fielder's choice, Lazowski delivered the game winner to right field.

Coast Guard led 5-1 after five  before Baruch scored six times in the fifth for a 6-5 lead.  Baruch led 7-5 before the Bears tied the game 7-7 in the seventh on an RBI single by Jackson before Baruch scored seven times in the eighth for a 14-7 lead.

Sophomore Joe Siciliano pitched the first five innings for the Bears allowing three runs on just two hits with four walks and a pair of strikeouts. He was lifted after walking the first two batters to start the sixth inning.

Murdoch led the Bears with three hits while Wood, Serna, Jackson and Lazowski each had two hits as Coast Guard finished with 15 hits in the win.

The Bears, who improve to 2-1, are back in action on Sunday when they take on archrival Merchant Marine in a doubleheader, the first two games of a three-games series at the Gene Cusic Classic.