Baseball | 3/2/2018 5:42:00 PM

THE DETAILS
Bloomsburg (3-1, 0-0 PSAC East) vs #5 St. Thomas Aquinas (4-0, 0-0 ECC)
Saturday, March 3 - 11:00 AM (DH) at Colonial Heights, Va.
Sunday, March 4 - 10:00 AM (DH) at Colonial Heights, Va.

GAME COVERAGE
No live stats available this weekend

RELATED LINKS
Bloomsburg - Roster | Schedule | Statistics
St. Thomas Aquinas - Roster | Schedule | Statistics

STORYLINE
Bloomsburg, winners of three of its first four games of the season, heads to Colonial Heights, Virginia, to meet fifth-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas in an early-season, neutral-site test. The Spartans enter the four-game series with a perfect 4-0 record on the year.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Bloomsburg and St. Thomas Aquinas met for the first time on March 4, 2017, with the Huskies posting a 7-4 victory in Thomasville, North Carolina. After falling behind, 3-1, in the top of the seventh inning, Bloomsburg responded with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and four runs in the bottom of the eighth to come away with the win. Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) and Nate Krizan (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township) each had two hits while Mike Warren (Garnerville, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional) earned the victory on the mound.

SCOUTING BLOOMSBURG
Bloomsburg posted a 3-1 record in its opening weekend of the season last Friday and Saturday at Newport News Apprentice School. The Huskies split a pair of games against the Builders and swept both games against divisional-rival, Kutztown. The Huskies had at least 10 hits in all four games last weekend and batted .313 as a team while outscoring the opposition, 38-22. Austin Edgette (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) batted a team-high .615 (8-of-13) with eight runs scored, three doubles, and five runs batted in. He posted an on-base percentage of .750 over the four games. Meanwhile, Shane Woelfel (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) was named the PSAC East Co-Athlete of the Week after batting .462 (6-of-13) with ten runs scored, three doubles, two home runs, and seven RBI. He had a team-high 1.154 slugging percentage last weekend. Ryan Shiffer (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) also had a big first weekend as he batted .375 (6-of-16) with two home runs and a team-best eight runs driven in. The Huskies also had eight stolen bases last weekend - two each from Edgette and Shiffer.

On the mound, Bloomsburg had a team earned run average of 4.63 and limited opponents to a .244 batting average. Ashton Raines (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) won his first start of the season after going seven strong innings in the season opener against The Apprentice School. He allowed one run on three hits while striking out four. Nick Stoner (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) also had a sensational collegiate debut coming out of the bullpen against the Builders last Saturday. Stoner pitched five and one-third innings and allowed one run on one hit while punching out eight batters. JJ Spehrley (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville Area) and Ed Herbener (Freeland, Pa./MMI Preparatory School) posted the other Bloomsburg wins over the weekend - both coming out of the bullpen.

SCOUTING ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
The Spartans are 4-0 to start the season and are ranked first in the East Region, and fifth in the country, according to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Included in their victories last weekend was a 5-4 win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a 12-5 decision over defending national champion, West Chester. Joseph Pena had a monster weekend for St. Thomas Aquinas as he batted .615 (8-of-13) with four doubles, two triples, one home run, and nine runs batted in. He also led the team with five stolen bases. Angelo Biaz had eight runs batted in and swiped four bags while batting .429 (6-of-14). Giovanni Dingcong led the team with two round trippers.

The pitching staff was dominant during the opening weekend as it posted a team earned run average of 3.82 while limiting opponents to a .162 batting average. Alex Mack, Christian Allegretti, Chris Pennell, and Michael Valdes each won a game during the opening weekend with Pennell leading the team with eight strikeouts in just three and one-third innings. Mack, meanwhile, allowed just one hit in five shutout innings and was the only starter to post a win last weekend.

UP NEXT
The Huskies will head to Wilson, North Carolina for four games over the course of four days. Bloomsburg will start off against West Virginia State on Saturday, March 10 and then will play against California (Pa.) on Sunday, March 11. The Huskies will then tangle with Lock Haven on Tuesday, March 13, before battling California again on Wednesday, March 14 to conclude the trip.