Auburndale/Winter Haven, Fla. – The Aquinas baseball team played three more games over the last two days (Mar. 13-14) to finish up AQ's games down in Florida. The Saints dropped a close matchup against Northwestern yesterday (Mar. 13) 6-2. However, AQ bounced back with two wins today (Mar. 14) against Hastings College. The Saints won the first game of the doubleheader 5-2 and the second game 3-1.

The two wins today helped boost AQ's record this season to 7-9 before the WHAC season starts.

Monday, Game 1: Northwestern (Iowa) 6, Aquinas 2 (7 Innings)

The Saints grabbed an early 2-0 lead after a bases-loaded walk to Dawson Shearer in the first inning and an RBI double by Luke Lacross in the second inning. It was Lacross' first extra-base hit of the season to bring in his 12th RBI — one of three Saints to have double-digits in RBIs with Grant Martin (15) and Dane Smitz (14) after Monday's contest.

Northwestern quickly pulled one run back in the bottom of the second inning following a leadoff home run by Noa Vogel. After an Aquinas miscue in the fourth tied the game at 2-2, Vogel was then struck by a pitch with the bases loaded to put the Red Raiders up 3-2 in the fifth. Northwestern tacked on an RBI sacrifice fly later in the inning to push its advantage out to two runs.

The Red Raiders added their final two runs in the sixth off a wild pitch and another sacrifice fly.

AQ left the bases loaded in the seventh before going down 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth innings.

Martin had two of AQ's four hits. Dane Smitz walked three times and crossed home plate twice.

AQ starting pitcher Conor Gausselin was dealt the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) in four innings of work. He also racked up eight strikeouts, giving Gausselin 14 punchouts in eight innings pitched so far this season.
 
Tuesday, Game 2: Aquinas 5, Hastings 2 (7 Innings)

Mason Hill received the start on the bump and picked up a quick three outs to start the game. An error from the Broncos allowed Lacross to score an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning. On the subsequent at-bat, Jake Paganelli smacked a double to right field to bring Mark Binkowski across home from second to put Aquinas ahead 2-0.

AQ tacked on another couple of runs in the bottom of the third inning after a Martin single brought Lacross across home. Paganelli cracked another double into right field to bring Binkowski home from second to give Aquinas a 4-0 advantage.

Hill continued to deal from the mound, giving up very little offense from Hastings through the fist five innings. However, HC finally managed to string together a few hits on Hill in the bottom of the sixth inning. A couple of singles early allowed the Broncos to build some early momentum. A pass-ball strikeout and another single gave Hastings two runs and prompted Josh Avink to take over on the mound. Avink forced a ground out on the next at-bat to get the Saints out of the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Nicolas Verdugo started the inning by getting on base after being hit by a pitch. He then stole second and advanced to third base after Dawson Shearer grounded out. With Braden Brown up to bat, Verdugo was able to score on a passed ball.

Avink was back on the mound to close out the seventh inning and made quick work of the three Hastings batters to give AQ a 5-2 victory in seven innings.

Martin and Paganelli both finished the game with two hits and a combined total of three RBI. Hill earned his second win of the season and Avink finished the game with his first save of the season.
 
Tuesday, Game 3: Aquinas 3, Hastings 1

The Saints nearly took an early lead again after Smitz and Lacross were on second and third with just one out. However, good pitching from Hastings caused a popout and a strikeout to leave the two runners stranded in the top of the first inning.

Ethan Pequette started the second game of the doubleheader for the Saints and made quick work of the Broncos through the first two innings, allowing zero hits and just one base runner.

Nathan Wilcox started the third inning with a double to left field and immediately advanced to third base on a wild pitch. A couple of batters later, Lacross singled through the infield to give AQ its first run of the game.

Pequette finally allowed his first hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning but quickly recovered, forcing two lineouts to get out of the inning unscathed.

In the following inning, Tyler Zomerlei took over pitching duties. An early error allowed the Broncos to put a baserunner on and a two-out double brought the run around the bases to tie the game at one.

The Saints immediately responded as Aidan Schmuckal ripped a two-RBI double to right field to retake the lead. Zomerlei settled down in the sixth inning and allowed no runs over the sixth and seventh inning to pick up his first win of the season.

Smitz, Lacross, Paganelli, Schmuckal, and Wilcox combined for AQ's seven hits and 3 RBI.

The Saints start conference play this weekend with their home opener on Saturday (Mar. 18). Aquinas is set to take on rival Cornerstone with a doubleheader.