PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – Seven Hawks notched multiple hits while Charlie Coghlin drove in four runs and Brian Lau brought home three more as the Saint Joseph's baseball team rolled past Western Michigan, 17-8, at North County Stadium on Friday afternoon.
The Broncos took an early lead in the second on an RBI single by Jimmy Roche scored Hunter Prince and gave WMU a 1-0 lead.
Saint Joseph's (5-5) went ahead for good in the bottom half of the frame. Lau hit a one-out double before Dominic Cuoci singled two batters later to tie the game. After a single by Taylor Boyd put Cuoci on third, a wild pitch brought him home and put the Hawks on top, 2-1.
The Hawks extended the lead in the third on a pair of hits and an error. Mark Giacalone led off with a walk and came in to score on a double to center by Deon Stafford, Jr. After Matt Maul reached on an error, Coghlin's two-run double made it a 5-1 lead.
SJU effectively put the game out of reach with a nine-run fifth. John Brue led off the inning with a solo home run, his fourth of the season, to push the lead to five. After a walk by Maul and a single by Lau, Coghlin ripped a single through the left side to bring in a run and make it a 7-1 game.
Cuoci followed with another RBI single and Boyd drew a walk to load the bases for Peter Sitaras, who doubled down the right field line to score two. Two batters later, Stafford's RBI groundout plated Boyd and extended the lead to double digits.
Brue walked in his second plate appearance of the inning, and a single by Maul reloaded the bases for Lau, who drove in a pair with a double before Coghlin singled home another run to push the Hawk margin to 14-1.
Western Michigan (1-11) got one back in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Roche, but the Hawks answered with three more in the bottom half. Sitaras doubled with one out in the inning before making way for pinch runner Graham Leib, who advanced to third on a single by Stafford. A wild pitch scored Leib to make it 15-2 before a walk to Brue, an RBI single by Maul, and an RBI double by Lau closed the scoring for SJU.
The Broncos showed some life late, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring six times in the top of the eighth, but Jason Holcomb induced a double play ball out of Prince to end the inning.
Pat Vanderslice notched his first win of the season for the Hawks on Friday, allowing two runs on seven hits in six solid innings. Tanner Allison took the loss for WMU, falling to 0-4 after allowing five runs, three of them earned, on five hits in two and two-thirds innings.
The Hawks will take on Michigan State on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.
