CLEVELAND, Ga. -- The University of St. Francis baseball team got off to a quick start against Truett-McConnell University (Ga.) on Wednesday afternoon at the TMU Baseball Complex en route to scoring a 14-3 victory to wrap up the team's Southern trip.  The Fighting Saints asserted their offensive dominance through situational hitting, using 14 singles to produce their season-high run total.

There was plenty of offense to go around for USF with six different players authoring multi-hit games.  Cliff Vickers led the way with three his three singles.

Other big hitters on the day were Nate Maliska (2-for-3, 2 RBI), Mitchell Thomas (2-for-4, 2 RBI), Brayan Hidalgo (2-for-4, 1 RBI), Drew Dant (2-for-4, 1 RBI) and Jake Klepacz (2-for-5, 1 RBI).  Alex Mielcarz also added one hit to the Saints' offensive effort, while scoring two runs.

St. Francis began the game sending 13 hitters to the plate in the first inning, which produced eight runs.  Included were runs batted in from Maliska, Dant, Thomas and Vickers (two).

The Saints would add three more runs to their total in the top of the second frame to expand their lead to 11-0 before Truett-McConnell began to keep pace by matching USF's run production with a trio of runs one-half inning later.

Thomas added his second RBI with a single in the fourth inning, with Klepacz and Maliska following suit to cap off USF's scoring frenzy in the seventh frame and force the ten-run rule.

St. Francis coaxed six walks in the contest to go along with its 14 hits.  Truett-McConnell finished with five hits, led by Dylan Sargent's 1-for-3, one-RBI showing.  Of the 19 total hits between the two squads on the day, Sargent's double in the second inning was the only connection to go for extra bases.

Frank Curbis (1-0) made history with his start, registering both his first collegiate win and complete-game effort.  He struck out two batters against three walks and the five hits.

Up Next
The Saints will be back at home on Saturday, March 8 when they will play host to the Tigers of Doane University (Neb.)  The doubleheader begins at 12 pm at Slammers Stadium.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.