POMONA, N.Y. – The Bloomsburg baseball defeated St. Thomas Aquinas, 10-3 to open its non-conference doubleheader before falling in the nightcap on at Clover Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Dylan Hirsh (Yardley, Pa./Pennsbury) went 4-for-5 with six RBIs in the opening game. Drew Balestrini (Sunbury, Pa./Shikellamy) followed behind with three hits in the opener as well. Grant Russo (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) went 2-for 3 on the day with three runs while also earning three walks. On the day, Bloomsburg (17-10) totaled 18 hits.
 
Game One – Bloomsburg 10, St. Thomas Aquinas 3
 
A pair of walks to Russo and Matt Freda (Lafayette, N.J./High Point Regional) followed by a double steal set up the Huskies for early success to start the inning. A double down the right-field line from Hirsh put two runs on the board for the maroon and gold before an out was recorded. A single through the right-side gap from Balestrini moved Hirsh over to third before a perfectly executed double steal put the visitors ahead 3-0.
 
Back-to-back doubles from Jace Jarmon (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Central) and Russo to lead off the second tacked on the fourth run of the day. Russo moved to third on a groundout from Freda before being brought home on a centerfield single from Hirsh to make it 5-0.
 
A pair of home runs from St. Thomas Aquinas (18-10) in the third moved the score to 5-3.
 
The Huskies responded quickly as Freda scored in the top of the fourth on Hirsh's third hit of the day. With the bases loaded later in the frame, a fielder's choice from Anthony Trommer (Trevose, Pa./Neshaminy) brought in the seventh run of the day. The maroon and gold made it 8-3 on the next at bat as Casey O'Brien's (Moosic, Pa./Riverside) left-field single scored Balestrini.
 
Bloomsburg tacked on its final two runs in the seventh as Hirsh knocked a two-RBI single up the middle.
 
Six different pitchers combined for seven innings of work in the contest. Kaden Peifer (Etters, Pa./Red Land) earned the win with two hits allowed across two innings.
 
Game Two – St. Thomas Aquinas 10, Bloomsburg 5
 
STAC got on the board first with in the bottom of the first inning, as a triple set the stage for an unearned run to take the 1-0 lead.
 
An RBI-groundout from Joe Levis (Fort Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin) with the bases loaded in the second tied the contest at 1-1.
 
The Spartans pulled away in the bottom of the frame, bring four runs across the plate to take a 5-1 lead. A two-RBI single in the third extended their advantage to 7-1.
 
Bloomsburg began to come back in the fifth, scoring on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Freda made it 7-4 as he singled to right field, scoring Jarmon and Nico Ingalls (Newton, N.J./Kittatinny Regional).
 
Another error for the Huskies brought the home sides eighth run of the contest in.
 
The maroon and gold scored one more run on a bases-loaded walk before a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth for the Spartans secured the 10-5 result.
 
Jack Carver (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks South) was credited with the loss in his first career start, allowing five runs on three hits in 1.1 innings. Travis Peden (Middletown, Del./Appoquinimink) tallied four strikeouts across his three innings on the bump.
 
The Huskies are back in action on Friday, April 10 as they travel to Millersville to begin the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader.