SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Leo baseball slammed three home runs and battered Minnesota-Crookston pitching for 16 hits while outlasting the Golden Eagles for a 19-15 win, Tuesday night at Thomas B. Southard Stadium.

The Lions continue their home stand on Wednesday night when they host the University of Bridgeport in another non-conference clash at Southard Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., with the webcast available on SaintLeoLions.com.

Sophomore Lane Stancil, sophomore Chase Turner, and junior Alex Mata all belted home runs to key Saint Leo offensively, with Stancil and Mata each hitting two-run homers.

After spotting Minnesota-Crookston a 6-0 lead by the midway point of the second inning, Saint Leo rallied for five runs in the bottom half of the frame including Stancil's shot over the right field fence. Junior Bryan Nunez singled home a run earlier in the frame, while redshirt freshman Derek Gibree plated the Lions' first run of the inning on a sac fly to center field

The Lions put up five more runs on three hits in the third inning to grab a 10-6 advantage, keyed by Gibree's two-run single through the left side and Stancil's double down the left field line to drive in two more runs

The Lions added runs in four of the next five innings, eventually taking a 19-6 lead over the Golden Eagles.

Crookston made things interesting in the top of the ninth with nine runs on three hits, aided by two Saint Leo errors, three walks, and three hit-by-pitch batters. Freshman Brett Coffel finally got the Lions out of the frame with a fly out to right field to secure the win, improving Saint Leo's record to 13-10.

Junior righty Zach Whitaker picked up the win, after coming on with two runners aboard and none out in the second. Whitaker pitched a masterful five scoreless innings in relief, scattering five hits and fanning five Crookston batters while walking none. Sophomore Ethan Lichtenberg came in and picked up where Whitaker left off, throwing two no-hit innings with one walk against two strikeouts to get the Lions through the eighth inning. Between the two Saint Leo relievers, only two Crookston batters advanced past second base between the third and eighth innings.

Stancil finished the night 3-for-5 at the plate with five runs batted in, with Mata going 3-for-3 and scoring three runs to go with four RBI. Turner, junior Mike Mann, and senior Zach Daley each had two hits. Gibree plated three runs on a 1-for-3 effort with one walk, and junior Troy Sieber went 1-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to 17 games.

Kenny Perez had an impressive night at the plate for Minnesota-Crookston, going 3-for-6 with two runs scored and three batted in, including a two-run home run for the Golden Eagles in the first. Mitchell Bornhauser and Patrick Higgins had two hits apiece, while Patrick Amerson drove in three runs on a hit and a walk. 

Reliever Zac Carrillo was tagged with the loss for Crookston, after yielding four runs on two hits and two walks, including the go-ahead runs in the Saint Leo third.

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