Thomas College Baseball Splits Twinbill with Lawrence

Recap, photo courtesy of Thomas College

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Thomas College baseball team split a twinbill with Lawrence University on Thursday, falling in game one, 12-4, and winning game two, 7-5.

The Terriers move to 2-5 on their spring trip while the Vikings sit at 4-9.

Game 1: Lawrence 12, Thomas 5

Thomas started strong offensively as they plated two quick runs in the top of the first.  Darren Kelly (Foxboro, Mass.) continued his timely hitting with an RBI single.  Kelly later forced a throwing error stealing second base to allow Riley Simonetti (Minneapolis, Minn.) to score for a 2-0 lead. 

The Vikings responded in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own to take the lead.  The Terriers eventually took the lead back in the second on a wild pitch and RBI single from Connor Rittenhouse (Dover, N.H.).

The lead and game began to slip away from Thomas as Lawrence recorded nine unanswered runs with five in the fifth and four more in the sixth for a 12-4 victory.

Tony Caputa earned the win in relief for the Vikings with one inning pitched, one hit and one strikeout.

Jonah Gorgone (Casselberry, Fla.) was given the loss for Thomas in 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits and six runs.

Game 2: Thomas 7, Lawrence 5

Vikings' starter Brad Olson kept the Terriers off the board in the first two frames to take a 3-0 lead on two unearned runs. 

The Thomas offense came alive in the third, fourth, and five as they brought around seven straight runs for a 7-3 advantage.  A sacrifice fly from Simonetti and a double by Alex Curtis (Monmouth, Maine) got the Terriers on the board.  The Terriers took the lead in the fourth on RBI singles by Antonio Martinez (Coral Springs, Fla.) and Tyler Gee (Falmouth, Maine).  They extend the lead to four in the next inning on a ground out from Martinez and single from Roberto Duran (San Diego, Cal.).

The Vikings threated in the final inning as a triple by Ethan Jones brought it two runs, cutting the lead in half.  Thomas pitcher Brandon Hubbard (New Gloucester, Maine) settled down Lawrence in the end to finish at 7-5.

Hubbard earned the win on the mound in seven innings, allowing eight hits and five runs (three earned).

Olson shouldered the loss for the Vikings in four innings of work, seven hits, and six runs