WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – While baseball-like weather has descended on New England this weekend with abnormally warm temperatures expected this weekend behind cloudy skies, Post University Baseball escaped for the weekend to a sunnier and more tropical place to kick off the 2024 season, heading to Florida for a trio of games over the next three days.
 
Playing three nine-inning games in three days, the Eagles started things off with their first-ever game against Palm Beach Atlantic University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday night, using a three-run second inning to propel them to a 5-1 opening day win over the Sailfish.

THE BASICS

Post University 5, Palm Beach Atlantic University 1

Post University (1-0)

Palm Beach Atlantic University (0-5)

HOW IT HAPPENED
After a 1-2-3 inning for both sides which saw two batters go down via the strikeout against starting senior pitcher Matt Semon for Post and starting junior pitch Isaac Beebe for Palm Beach Atlantic, the Eagles struck for three runs in the second. With one down, senior outfielder Danny Gill popped a ball into center field that dropped in between three Sailfish players for a double. In his first collegiate at-bat, freshman designated hitter Brian Zweigbaum singled to freshman second baseman Trey Miranda who dove for the ball and was unable to field it cleanly.
 
The single allowed Gill to score and the Eagles were in business after a wild pitch from Beebe moved Zweigbaum to second. Back-to-back singles by senior shortstop Evan Cornwell and the first collegiate hit for freshman first baseman Dario Sosa plated two more for Post who held a commanding 3-0 lead after 1 ½ innings of play.
 
Both teams would exchange a run each in the fourth inning as another single from Sosa extended the Eagle lead to four runs before a lead-off double by graduate outfielder Matty Warren led to a sacrifice fly by sophomore outfielder Ben Green to cut into Palm Beach Atlantic's deficit and make it a 4-1 ballgame.
 
Matt Semon would run into a little bit of trouble in the fifth inning after walking back-to-back batters with one out but came back to punch out Miranda and get Warren to fly out and end the inning. That would be the only threat towards Semon who finished the day after six innings in which he gave up one run on three hits while striking out seven and walking two.
 
While the bats were silent for Post in the seventh and eighth, the Sailfish looked to mount a comeback against junior reliever Brennan Holligan in the home half of the eighth. A one-out single for Miranda and a walk issued to Miranda put the tying run at the plate in Green as Holligan would have to face the heart of the order if he wanted to escape trouble. After getting Green to ground out which advanced the runners over a base, Holligan would retire junior outfielder Matthew Faranda for the final out and avoid any damage.
 
Junior catcher Jimmy Brennan tacked on the fifth run of the day for the Eagles with a two-out single in the ninth which scored Sosa before Holligan retired the side for Post in the bottom half of the inning to secure a three-inning save and the 5-1 victory on opening day for the Eagles.

BY THE NUMBERS

• In his first collegiate game, Dario Sosa reached base three times going 2-for-3 with two RBI singles while also being hit by a pitch, scoring once, and then also being caught stealing on the base path
• Brennan Holligan closed out his first relief appearance with three shutout innings while allowing just two runners to reach base via a hit and a walk while striking out four
• Three Post players had multi-hit games today in Dario Sosa, Michael Pavelchak, and DJ Caron – Eight of the nine starters in the Eagles lineup reached base today
• Isaac Beebe took the loss for Palm Beach Atlantic after going seven innings in which he allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits while striking out five and walking one

WHO'S NEXT
Post University enters the second game of their first southern swing of the spring tomorrow afternoon against Nove Southeastern University with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 PM in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This will be the first head-to-head matchup between the two sides in program history.