AUBURNDALE, Fla. (March 9) – The Saint Vincent baseball team's offense was on full display, as the Bearcats improved to 4-2 over their Florida spring break sojourn with a 24-6 victory over Ursinus College.
Junior
Billy Perroz had four hits, finishing just a home run away from the cycle, while driving in a career-high eight RBIs, to lead a Saint Vincent offense that cracked 17 hits, drew a program-record 17 walks and scored at least one run in every inning.
Perroz was one of five Bearcats to record a multi-hit game, as
Kyle Belmont went 3-for-3,
Jordan Sabol and
Connor Bannias each 2-for-3 and
Jimmy Davis 2-for-4. Davis and Belmont each scored four runs, while Bannias and
Alex Hess both crossed the plate three times.
Bannias reached base safely five times on the afternoon, drawing three walks to go with his two hits, while
Derek Hald, Hess and Belmont were each issued a pair of free passes. In all, 12 different Bearcats were walked at least once, with the team's 17 bases-on-balls breaking its previous single-game mark of 13 set on April 13, 1982, against Westminster.
Sean McAleer started and earned his first career win on the mound, working six innings and allowing six runs (four earned) on eight hits with six strikeouts.
Nate Davis came on in relief to close out the victory with a scoreless seventh.
SVC wasted little time in taking the lead, scoring four times in the top of the first before recording an out. Sabol and
Jimmy Davis drew back-to-back walks to open the game, before Belmont singled to right to load the bases. Perroz then cleared the sacks with a triple to the right field corner to make it 3-0 and promptly scored on a balk to open up a four-run lead.
Ursinus answered right back in the bottom half, promptly cutting into the deficit by scoring three runs on four hits.
SVC manufactured a run in the second, when Hess walked, stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored on a Sabol sacrifice fly, but the Bears countered by tying the game at 5-5 with a pair of unearned runs in the second.
The Bearcats would then take the lead for good in the top of the third. A Perroz double was sandwiched between walks to Belmont and Bannias, before Derrick Hald drew a bases-loaded free pass to make it 6-5.
Dimitri Gary then came through with a sacrifice fly to right that scored both Perroz from third and a hustling Bannias from second and made it 8-5.
SVC added three runs in the fourth, on a one-run double from Bannias and a two-run double by
Austin Tirpak, before Perroz smacked a two-run single in the top of the fifth to open up a 13-5 lead.
The Bearcats put the game out of reach for good in the top of the sixth, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring six runs on six hits, including a 2-run Sabol single and a 3-run Perroz double. SVC then batted around for the second straight inning in the top of the seventh and scored five more times.
Ben Hudson picked up his first career RBI in the frame with an RBI single, while
Vincent Amatucci also drove in his first career run with a sacrifice fly.
The Bearcats will be back in action on Friday, March 10, their penultimate day in the Sunshine State, when they take on Dominican University (Ill.) at 9 a.m. at Lake Myrtle Park.
