FORT MYERS, Fla. – After dropping game one of a doubleheader 6-11 against St. John's University the Thiel College baseball team bounced back to edge out Rivier University 8-7 in game two.
 
Against the Johnnies, The Tomcats jumped out to a two run lead in the third as Jake Marino (Pittsfield, Pa./Youngsville) singled up the middle to score Spencer Rinaldi (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) and Alex Lam (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro). St. John's answered in the bottom of the inning scoring on a sacrifice fly to cut the Tomcat lead in half.
 
Thiel's offense carried over into the fourth as Filippo Costanzo (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) singled through the right side to score Drew Dellert (Dover, Del./Poly-Tech) and Daniel Patrice (Munich, Germany/EST) to make it 4-1. Marino collected another RBI single as he scored Costanzo later in the inning, after four Thiel built a 5-1 lead.
 
In the fifth, St. John's bats came alive as they would pour in five runs to take a 7-5 advantage. Marino answered yet again on a single to right to score Lam to pull within one run of the Johnnies.
 
The Johnnies added four more runs in the seventh to put the game out of reach of the Tomcats, Thiel fell 11-6 in game one of the doubleheader.
 
In game two, the Tomcat offense got off to a fast start as Christian Aldrich (Cranberry Township, Pa./Central Catholic) tripled to center to score two runners followed by a Zach Hudecek (Gibsonia, Pa./Deer Lakes) double down the line to score Aldrich.
 
Aldrich and Hudecek were far from done on the day as each would go on to blast a homerun, each would collect three RBI's apiece in the game.
 
Despite grabbing a 6-1 lead in the third, the Raiders closed the gap to 6-4 before Hudecek's two run blast to left making it 8-6 Thiel after four. The Raiders were not done though as they collected a run on a fielder's choice and two runs off a single to left center to make it 8-7 in the seventh.
 
Hudecek's homer in the fourth was the last time the Tomcats would get on the board but the Tomcat bullpen stepped up as starting shortstop Spencer Rinaldi (Springfield, Ohio/Northwestern) would come in and convert the eight out save to preserve the victory.
 
Dante Vaniel (White Oak, Pa./McKeesport) collected his first win of the year as he came in relief of starter Dellert.
 
With the split, The Tomcats now sit at 2-6 on the year and will play Otterbein University tomorrow in the final day of the Gene Cusic Classic. First pitch is set for noon (12:00 p.m.) at the Player Development Complex Field #2.