The Lindenwood baseball team (1-0) opened the 2020 season with a 6-5 win in extra innings over Florida Tech (0-1) on Friday in Melbourne, Fla.
 
GAME OVERVIEW
The Lions jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after registering three hits and one error by Florida Tech.  Mitchell Krebs drove in the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to left field.  Dominic Revetta added a run with an RBI single to centerfield, driving in freshman Will Lanxon from second base.  Senior transfer Alex Canty drove in Kolby Schulte for a 3-0 lead.  Lindenwood-Belleville transfer Beau Collier closed out the inning with a sacrifice fly to make it a 4-0 lead for Lindenwood after the top of the first inning.
 
Florida Tech put the ball in play four times in the bottom of the first inning, cutting the Lindenwood lead to 4-2.  Sophomore transfer Sam Kissane extended the lead in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI single.  The Panthers began to chip away in the bottom half of the inning, scoring two runs on three hits and one error.  Florida Tech added another run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 5-5.
 
The Lions had just one baserunner from the fifth inning to the ninth inning, but held the Panthers off the board when they needed to send the game into extra innings.  Kissane opened the 10th inning with a single and later stole second base with one out.  After advancing to third on wild pitch, Kissane scored while Schulte beat out a near double play to make it a 6-5 Lindenwood lead.  Eric Hipp shut down Florida Tech in his three innings of work, earning a 6-5 win for Lindenwood to open the season.
 
GAME LEADERS
Sam Kissane (2-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 SB, 1 HBP)
Mitchell Krebs (1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 SF, 1 R)
Eric Hipp (W, 3.0 IP, 3 K, 0 R)
 
UP NEXT
The Lions and Panthers will play at 1:00 p.m. (12:00 p.m. central) on Saturday in the second game of the series in Melbourne, Fla.