MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Sheehan Planas-Arteaga belted a bases-clearing double in the sixth and Barry held off a late charge from Palm Beach Atlantic to win the final matchup of the season between the south region foes, 9-6, Wednesday night at Feinbloom field.
Barry (26-17) got the scoring started in the bottom of the first inning on Adrian English’s sacrifice fly to plate Carlos Matamoros. The Bucs added three more runs in the second, capped by Planas-Arteaga’s RBI single to center, to take a 4-0 lead.
Nate Greve cruised through the first three innings, but ran into trouble after giving up a run in the third and another in the fifth when Joeanthony Rivera (4-0) was called to enter in relief of the young left-hander.
Palm Beach Atlantic began chipping away at the lead, scoring one run in each of the final five innings, but Planas-Arteaga’s clutch two-out three-RBI double off the base of the fence in right center proved to be the difference.
Barry added two more insurance runs in the eighth and Tyler Petsch was called upon to close out the game. However, after three pitches, Petsch was taken out of the game as a precaussion with an apparent injury and coach Marc Pavao turned to second baseman Khalil Denson to close out the game.
Denson, who pitched in high school allowed just one run in his first inning of work of his young career and the Bucs went on to win, 9-6.
Planas-Arteaga continues to have a remarkable season. The junior finished 3-for-4 with five RBI and is now hitting .401 on the season.
Denson also finished with a pair of hits to pace the offense.
Barry awaits Eckerd College Friday night for the start of the final home stand of the season. Senior Day will be honored on Saturday and live-stats and video broadcast coverage will be available for all three games.