Baseball ends spring break with 9-4 victory

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Juniata College baseball tacked on a victory to bring up its average to .500 with a 9-4 win over Saint Vincent College on the Eagles' last day in Winter Haven, Fla.

A Dan Gray (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) double in the first inning that scored sophomore Brad Medellin (Lewisberry, Pa./Red Land) broke open Juniata's scoring.

After a silent second inning for Juniata (5-5) and two Saint Vincent (5-1) marks, the Eagles put-up two more runs in the third. Medellin hopped aboard from a left field single that moved Ben Mersky (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) up to third and another D. Gray single scored Mersky. Medellin came home as a result of a sophomore Joe Sforza (Pittstown, N.J./Immaculata) ground out.

Juniata added three more marks in the fourth to secure the win for the Eagles. A Jace Rhoads (Summersville, Pa./Clarion-Limestone) infield single followed by junior Chase Dykstra (Somerset, Pa./Somerset Area) and Mersky walks loaded the bases. Medellin capitalized on the opportunity and beat out an infield single to the Saint Vincent shortstop to score Rhoads. D. Gray followed it up with the game winning RBIs off a single that drove home Mersky and Dykstra.

Juniata added two runs in the sixth and manufactured its ninth and final run of the game in the top of the seventh.

Freshman Chris Fulton (West Chester, Pa./Unionville High School) earned his first collegiate victory with six innings pitched. Fulton gave up all four Bearcat runs on seven hits while fanning three Saint Vincent batters.

"It was a great win against a very good team and a nice way to end the week. We put together a complete nine-inning game. Fulton and Mario DeYulis pitched a great game for us," said Head Coach Jesse Leonard.

Juniata wasn't just solid on defense, but offensively the team combined for a .365 hitting percentage with 15 hits in 41 at-bats. Medellin and D. Gray ended the day with three hits apiece, while Mersky, freshman Nicholas Stubbs (Hagerstown, Md./South Hagerstown) and Dykstra each logged two hits. Mersky, D. Gray and Stubbs each smacked doubles against the Bearcats, while D. Gray led Juniata in RBIs with four.

Juniata ends the week in Winter Haven, Fla. with a .281 batting average with 93 hits driving in 74 runs over the 10-game week. The Eagles have charted 15 doubles and three triples so far this season.

On the mound, the Eagles have fanned 44 batters and have allowed 53 earned runs for a combined 5.99 era.

"We have some things to work on in all phases of the game, but I am very happy with how we played and approached the games this week. We had some great efforts from our underclassmen, and most importantly, I feel we got better every game," Leonard commented about the week in Florida.

Juniata travels to the University of Scranton for its first Landmark Conference games, beginning with a double header on Saturday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. followed by a Sunday afternoon nine-inning contest.

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