The Aquinas baseball team hosted Rochester on a very rainy and sloppy Sunday (Apr. 24) at De Witt Field in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Warriors proved to be better in the not so good conditions, winning both both games over the Saints by the scores of 19-4 and 22-17. AQ's record now sits at 17-31 (4-14 WHAC) on the season, while RU improves to 8-25 (5-15 WHAC) in 2022.

GAME 1: Rochester 19, Aquinas 4

The Warrior offense was all over the Saints' pitching staff in the first three innings of the game with six runs scoring in the first inning, seven more in the second, and six more in the third. Grant Smitz (0.2 innings), Hunter Morrison (one inning), Nathan Myers (zero innings), James Wubben (0.2 innings), and Caden Gregory (1.2 innings) combined to throw the first four innings of the ball game. Smitz (0-1) took the loss, but the five pitchers gave up 19 runs (13 earned) on 12 hits and 11 walks collectively.

Jake Paganelli got the Saints on the board with an RBI single in the third that scored Conor Gausselin. AQ scored three more runs in the seventh inning as Lorenzo Cupri doubled to left field to plate Sean Wing and Kyle Teachworth, while Grant Martin singled up the middle to bring in Cupri.

The final three innings were scoreless for the AQ pitching staff as Nathan Esch struck out five of his six batters faced in two innings and Jordan Gapinski forced three groundouts by RU.

GAME 2: Rochester 22, Aquinas 17

The rain hit just as the second game started that caused two stoppages and sloppy conditions to play in. There were a combined 39 runs scored as both pitching staffs also allowed 36 walks due to difficult gripping of the baseball.

Braden Nawrocki opened the scoring just as the rain hit with a triple to right center field that brought around Nathan Hughes. The Warriors then responded with six runs in the second inning for the 6-1 lead.

Aquinas got one run back in the second inning as Nathan Wilcox doubled in Chris Suriel Garcia, but another six RU runs were scored in the fourth and one more in the fifth. Suriel brought in a run of his own in the fifth on a single to center field with Dane Smitz scoring. 

Three more runs were plated by the Warriors in the sixth, but the Saints did not go down without a fight with four runs in both the sixth and seventh innings made the score 16-11. Hughes first drew an RBI walk in the sixth before Nawrocki cleared the bases with another triple to right center field. A wild pitch, two walks, and a hit by pitch allowed the four AQ runs to score in the seventh.

Both teams scored a run a piece in the eighth with Nawrocki knocking in another run on a single for the Saints. Just as Aquinas got within five runs, Rochester doubled its lead with its final five runs of the game in the ninth. The Saints would match the five runs in the ninth on a Hughes two-RBI double, a Paganelli RBI groundout, a Suriel RBI single, and a Wilcox RBI walk.

Martin (one inning), Teachworth (two innings), Owen Graves (0.1 innings), Myers (0.2 innings), Tyler Zomerlei (two innings), Riki Yokoyama (two innings), and Morrison (one inning) all pitched for the Saints in game two. The staff combined to allow 22 runs on 12 hits and 21 walks, while striking out eight.

JD Gillies had four hits at the plate with Nawrocki and Suriel both collecting three a piece. Nawrocki ended the game with five RBI, while Hughes, Suriel, and Wilcox brought in three a piece.

Aquinas will have a bit of a layoff as the next doubleheader is not until Friday (Apr. 29) in Ann Arbor, Michigan against UM-Dearborn, beginning at 2:00 PM.