SANFORD, FL – The 5th-ranked Rowan baseball team scored four runs in the fifth inning to earn a 13-9 win over #23 Aurora (IL) in the first game of the Profs' Florida trip, at the RussMatt Invitational at Sanford Memorial Stadium. Rowan is 4-0 on the year.
 
DH Dylan Maria went 3-for-5, which included a two-run home run, and finished off the game by pitching one inning in relief. Phil Sedalis had three hits and three RBI, while freshman Jason Morgan also had three hits and scored one run. Upperclassme Tyler Cannon and Ryan Murphy each had two hits and two RBI in the win.
 
The Spartans scored three runs right away off Rowan starter Zach Grace, but the Profs got 2 back in the bottom of the inning when Maria sent a blast into the centerfield which also scored Anthony Schooley.
 
Rowan added two more in the second with a two-run single from Murphy to score Karson Harcourt and Morgan, as the Profs went up 4-3. Rowan added to the lead, 5-3, in the fourth when Morgan doubled and scored on Murphy's grounder.
 
Aurora tied it briefly in the fifth, 5-5, with a two-run home run from DH Josh Reinhart.
 
Rowan strung together a number of hits in the bottom of the fifth for its four-run inning that gave them the lead for good. Sedalis drove in one with a triple, Harcourt had an RBI single and Cannon hit a two-run double, giving Rowan a 9-5 advantage.
 
Aurora added three runs in the sixth to close within, 9-8, but Morgan gave the Profs a 10-8 lead in the bottom of the seventh, with a sacrifice fly that scored Sedalis. Rowan added three insurance runs in the eighth as Murphy doubled and scored and Sedalis drove in two with a double.
 
Sean Colbert earned his first win with the Profs, as he threw 3.0 innings in relief of Grace, who struck out seven. Maria entered the game in the ninth and although Aurora scored one run, he recorded two strikeouts to preserve the win.
 
Next up for Rowan is a meeting with UT-Dallas on Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, FL.