AUBURNDALE, Fla. (Feb. 28) – The Saint Vincent College baseball team opened its 2022 season with a 12-6 win over the University of Dubuque at scenic Lake Myrtle Park.
The Bearcats (1-0) out-hit the Spartans (1-1) 12-7 and broke open a one-run game by scoring four runs over the final four innings.
Eight of SVC's nine batters recorded at least one hit, led by a 3-for-5 performance from
Jayke Saiani and two hits apiece from Zach VonStein and
Jeremy Kruezweiser. Kreuzewiser, Saiani,
TJ Dailey and
Billy Perroz each finished with two RBIs, while
Julian Santana and
Zach Barberich each scored three runs.
Tyler Chrise earned the win in relief, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing just one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
Casey Jones started and took the no-decision, allowing five runs on five hits with four K's in 5.0 innings.
Saint Vincent got things rolling quickly, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Santana led off the game with a single and promptly moved to second on a walk to
Jordan Sabol. With one out, Dailey cracked an RBI single to score Santana, while an error on the play allowed Sabol to cross the plate and make it 2-0. Two batters later, Perroz smacked a one-base hit to plate Dailey and up the lead to 3-0.
Dubuque countered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first, but SVC would regain the lead in the top of the third when an RBI single from Kruezweiser plated Barberich to make it 4-3. SVC added onto its lead two innings later, as Saiani cracked a one-out double and scored on an RBI groundout by Kruezweiser.
As was the case in the first inning, the Spartans answered right back once again, scoring a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5.
The Bearcats took the lead for good in the top of the sixth, when Dailey hit a sacrifice fly to center to plate Santana, who had walked, to make it 6-5. SVC then added three runs in the eighth, with VonStein scoring on an error and Saiani lacing a two-run single, before plating three more unearned runs in the ninth to put the game away.
Saint Vincent will continue its Florida swing on Tuesday, March 1, when they take on Wartburg College beginning at 11 a.m. at Northeast Regional Park in Davenport.