Melbourne, Fla. (February 22) -- Despite an excellent starting pitching performance from junior Steve Flynn (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter-Marian), the Assumption College baseball team dropped a 6-1 final to No. 21 ranked Florida Tech by a 6-1 final on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Seminick-Hall Field.

Flynn, making his first collegiate appearance for the Hounds, kept the Panthers silent over the first three innings as he picked up four strikeouts during that stretch as well. In the bottom of the fourth, Flynn retired the first two Panthers on a pair of groundouts before a triple to center by outfielder Daniel Szpik put a runner on base. David Wilson capitalized on the scoring opportunity immediately as he took a Flynn pitch and put it over the left field fence for his second homer of the year and the 2-0 edge. Earlier in the inning, the Hounds had a scoring chance of their own as junior Tom Paine (Upton, Mass./Nipmuc) reached on a fielder's choice and stole second with one out. FIT starter Grant Willcoxon had other ideas however as he struck out the final two batters to keep Assumption idle.

The Hounds cut into the Panthers lead with two outs in the top of the fifth as Ben O'Donnell (Northbridge, Mass./Northbridge) reached on a single thru the right side and eventually came home on a single to left by sophomore Matt Murphy (Wakefield, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) for the 2-1 margin. Assumption tried to tie the game with two outs in the seventh on a single to center by Murphy, but senior Kelvin Sims (Manchester, Conn./East Catholic) was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

For the Hounds, Flynn lasted six innings as he fell to 0-1 for the season after scattering three hits with two earned runs and five strikeouts. Freshman Rob Gambale (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) came into the game in the seventh and threw one inning of relief in his first collegiate appearance. After a scoreless frame in the seventh, the Panthers struck for a decisive four-run inning in the bottom of the eighth behind a two-run homer to right by Austin Allen for his fifth long ball of the year. After facing four batters in the eighth, Gambale gave way to Murphy, who came in from shortstop to pitch the final inning of the trip for the Hounds.

Ricky Rodriguez scored on an error to make it a 5-1 margin, followed by Tyler Doughty coming home on a double play for the 6-1 final as both runs were unearned.

Willcoxon picked up the win for the Panthers to improve to 3-0 on the season as he scattered seven hits over seven innings with eight strikeouts and one walk.

For the Hounds, junior Michael Panza (West Haven, Conn./Notre Dame) picked up his third two-hit game of the opening weekend, along with a 2-for-4 outing from Murphy. For the Panthers, the 2-7 hitters combined for all eight hits as Allen and Wilson each had a pair in the win.

With the loss, Assumption drops to 0-3 overall, while the Panthers took the three-game set from the Hounds and sit at 12-0 overall for the year.

Assumption is back in action on Spring Break next week, beginning with a 7 p.m. game at Rollins College beginning at 7 p.m. on Friday, February 27th.

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