Saint Leo, Fla. (February 23, 2007) – The Saint Leo University baseball team (7-3) shut out visiting St. Thomas University (6-6) by a score of 6-0 to record its fifth straight win on Friday night at Southard Stadium.

Saint Leo RF Yunior Tabares (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run to provide all the offense the Lions would need.  C Ricky Nolan (Jr., Seminole, Fla.) was 4-for-5 with a run scored and 1B Eric Spicer (Sr., Tampa, Fla.) also registered a pair of RBI on the night.

SLU starting pitcher Ryan Clark (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) allowed just two hits and struck out eight in seven innings of work, and relievers Eric Nickolaison (So., Spring Hill, Fla.) and Matt Smith (Sr., Dade City, Fla.) combined to complete the shutout by tossing perfect innings in the eighth and ninth.

The Lions scored a single run in the first and added another in the fourth before Tabares connected on his three-run homer with no outs in the fifth.  Saint Leo added an insurance run later in the fifth, and the pitching staff did the rest en route to the Lions’ fifth straight win.

The same two teams will do battle tomorrow with a doubleheader at Southard Stadium.  First pitch of game one is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.