FORT PIERCE, Fla. - The Marymount University baseball team opened up its Spring Break trip to the Sunshine State on Sunday, splitting a seven-inning twin bill with Washington (Md.) Colllege.

GAME ONE: Washington (Md.) 2, Marymount 1 (7 Innings)

The first of two seven-inning games saw the Shoremen get on the board first, putting up a run in the first and third inning to take a 2-0 advantage. The runs were scored off a RBI single to left field and a sacrifice fly to centerfield. 

With little offensive success in the first three innings, the Saints finally crossed a runner over home plate in the fourth. Junior Bill Wojcik, who finished 2-for-2 in game one with a run and a walk, led off the fourth with a double to centerfield. With no outs, junior Casey Baker stepped in for a sacrifice bunt to advance Wojcik to third. In the next at-bat, junior James DiGiulian did the same exact manuever, laying down a sacrifice bunt back toward the pitcher, bringing Wojcik home to cut the deficit to one, 2-1.

Over the next three innings, the pitching on both sides remained solid. For Marymount, sophomore Jarrod Schmitz came in for relief of junior Drew Mead in the fourth, tossing two innings for one hit and a strikeout. He was followed by senior Kenny Sysyn, who finished out the game for no hits and a strikeout in two innings. 

However, with strong pitching on the other side of the frame as well, the Saints couldn't cross any more runs to takeover the lead. 

GAME TWO: Marymount 4, Washington (Md.) 3 (7 Innings)

With Marymount as the visiting team in game two, the Saints got to bat first. Unfortunately, it was Washington that put two runs up first over the first two innings to take a similar 2-0 lead in the game. 

The difference in game two was the Saints responded with two runs of their own to draw the score even in the top of the third. Following a sacrifice bunt by senior Will DiGiulian, Marymount found itself with two runners in scoring position with one out. 

In the next at-bat, senior Mike Ferrara brought home freshman Bobby Leitzel with a single to right field while sophomore Alex Lemery shifted to third. He was followed with another single, this time to left field, from Wojcik to bring home Lemery and tie it up at 2-2. 

Senior Justin DiDonato, who started on the mound for MU in game two, settled in with two scoreless innings before the Shoremen retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI single to left field. 

Senior Matt Schneider, who gave up the hit in the fifth inning, eventually made up for it. He started with ending the fifth on a team up with sophomore catcher Ryan Maylie to catch a runner stealing home to send the game to the sixth. 

In the top half of the sixth, the Saints evened it up again when Maylie sent a RBI double to the outfield to score Wojcik. 

The lead swayed for the final time in the seventh, in favor of the Saints. Leitzel, who was hit by a pitch to get on base, was quickly moved to second on a Lemery sacrifice bunt. Two batters later, he was brought home on a Ferrara single to left field, helping Leitzel round the corner and head home for the 4-3 advantage. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Schneider earned two quick outs on a pair of groundouts. The Shoremen, needing a run to send it to extra innings, had two singles with two outs to have a chance to win it. However, Schneider had different plans, grounding the next batter into a fielder's choice to the shortstop Lemery who tossed the last out to second baseman Ferrara for the win.

Schneider earned the win on the mound, his third of the season, not giving up a run and striking out one over 2.1 innings. 

The Saints continue their trip on Monday, March 9 with another twin bill in Fort Pierce, taking on Kenyon at 1:30 p.m.