Box Score WINTER HAVEN, FL – The Rowan University baseball team topped Eastern Connecticut State University, 12-6 on Saturday afternoon in its first game at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
 
Rowan has an overall mark of 4-0, while Eastern Connecticut has a 2-2 record. Profs' right-handed pitcher Richie Suarez (2-0) (so. Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Reg.) earned the victory, pitching four innings in relief and allowing one runs on four hits. Righty Tyler Bayley (jr. Mount Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley Reg.) recorded a save, pitching 1.2 innings of one hit relief. The Warriors' right-handed hurler Greg Porter (1-1) (sr. Mystic, CT/R.E. Fitch Sr.) was the losing pitcher, giving up six runs, five earned on six hits in four innings.
 
First baseman Casey Grimes (jr. Gibbstown, NJ/Paulsboro) recorded five hits (six at bats), a double, a home run, drove in four runs and scored twice for Rowan. Left fielder Nick Kreiger (jr. Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) went four for five with four RBIs and two runs scored. Center fielder Eric Perez (sr. Fords, NJ/Woodbridge) and shortstop Ryan Williams (jr. Southampton, NJ/Seneca) each had two hits. Perez also knocked in two runs, while Williams scored a pair.
 
Center fielder Joe Perez (jr. North Branford, CT/North Branford), third baseman Mike Vaccarelli (sr. Wolcott, CT/Wolcott) and second baseman Corey Keane (jr. Tolland, CT/Tolland) had two hits apiece for Eastern Connecticut. Left fielder Nik Ververis (sr. Plainfield, CT/Plainfield) and Vaccarelli each recorded two RBIs.
 
Perez hit a two run single to get Rowan on the board in the top of the first. Eastern Connecticut responded in the bottom of the inning, scoring three runs. Vaccarelli smacked a two run homer and Keane reached on an error, which scored shortstop Brendan Lynch (sr. Wethersfield, CT/Wethersfield). The Profs scored twice in the second and two more in the fourth for a 6-3 lead. Kreiger drove in designated hitter Eric Sellitto (sr. Medford, NJ/Shawnee) with a single and Grimes hit a RBI single to score Williams in the second. Second baseman Mark Benak (sr. South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) and Kreiger then crossed the plate on a Grimes base hit in the fourth. Vereris doubled in the bottom of the fourth to plate two runs, cutting the Rowan lead to
6-5.
 
The Profs then tallied four unanswered runs for a 10-5 advantage heading to the bottom of the eighth. Kreiger produced a RBI single in the sixth. Right fielder Ryan Pavlik (jr. Blackwood, NJ/Highland Reg.) recorded a sacrifice fly and Williams notched a run scoring double in the seventh. Grimes hit a solo shot in the eighth. Pinch hitter Derek Allen (so. Wallingford, CT/Mark T. Sheehan) scored an unearned run for the Warriors in the bottom of the eighth for a 10-6 score. Kreiger's two run single in the ninth capped off the scoring for Rowan.
 
Rowan will face FDU-Florham in Auburndale, FL on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.