WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 7, 2009) – The Thiel College Tomcats opened the 2009 Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament with a bang (18 of them, actually), downing the Thomas More Saints, 11-5. Thiel will play the winner of Thursday's Washington & Jefferson-Grove City match at noon on Friday.

The Tomcats (28-13) didn't rely on the customary “big inning” in their tourney opener, but instead poured the runs on steadily over the nine-frame affair while burning through six Thomas More pitchers.

Thiel starter Josh Tedesco (Campbell, Ohio/Ursuline), on the other hand, breezed through seven five-hit innings to earn his ninth win of the year.

The lefty was touched up for only one run in the outing – a Chris Fishburn homer in the first.

Second baseman Luke Johnson (Rochester, Pa./Rochester) came through as Thiel's biggest offensive hero in a game that was full of them. The sophomore went 4-for-4 from the dish, while driving in three runs and scoring one more.

Three Tomcats – Chad Ulogar (Willoughby, Ohio/South), Justin Scarpitti (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep.), and Louie Parilla – paced the winning effort, scoring two runs apiece.

Scarpitti scored one of his runs when he led-off the third inning with a homer to right-centerfield. The blast was his team-leading eighth of the season.

Thiel – the visitors in the game – never trailed in the contest, after jumping out to an early three-run lead. Fishburn got a run back for the Saints in the bottom half of the inning with his shot to leftfield.

Down, 11-1, in the bottom of the eighth, Thomas More posted a pair of runs in each of its final two at-bats to set the final.

James Teyssier (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) and Justin Fiorello (Eastlake, Ohio/Eastlake North) pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, for Thiel. Only one of the Saints' runs in the seventh inning was earned.