CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Saint Michael's College baseball team began its eight-game Spring Break trip by splitting a doubleheader against the University of Minnesota Crookston on Monday during the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium. Saint Michael's, which stands at 1-4, claimed game one, 7-4, before the 5-9 Golden Eagles took the second contest, 12-8. Both of Monday's games were seven-inning affairs.

Senior Michael Dougherty (Albany, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy/Schenectady County CC) was 4-for-4 with two runs, a double and a triple for the Purple Knights in game one, accounting for half of his team's hits. First-year Peter Bocchino (Saugus, Mass./The Governor's Academy) contributed two hits, while junior Matt Feeney (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) and sophomore Steven Auger (Hopkinton, N.H./Hopkinton) both chipped in a hit while scoring two runs. Senior George Buteau (Burlington, Vt./Trinity-Pawling School) had a pair of sacrifice flies and classmate Don McGuirl (Warwick, R.I./Saint Sebastian's School) crossed the plate twice. Sophomore Alex Winkelmann (Gilford, N.H./Tilton School) earned the win after tossing six innings while allowing three runs on five hits with one strikeout.

Junior Ryan Haggstrom (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) went 2-for-3 for Minnesota Crookston and sophomore David Anaya (Tucson, Ariz./Pueblo Magnet/Dakota Wesleyan) knocked an RBI double, while junior Trevor Buttermore (North Saint Paul, Minn./North Saint Paul) was tagged for the loss after 5.2 innings of work.

After Saint Michael's left a runner in scoring position in both of the first two innings, Minnesota Crookston plated two runs in the home half of the second, including when Anaya stroked an RBI double. The Purple Knights responded with three runs in the top of the third when Auger scored on a wild pitch, Dougherty scored on senior Nicky Elderton's (Shelburne, Vt./Rice Memorial) groundout and McGuirl touched home on Buteau's one-out sacrifice fly. The fifth inning saw two more Saint Michael's runs score on back-to-back sacrifice flies by Buteau and Feeney, making it 5-2.

Dougherty added a two-out triple in the sixth inning to score Auger before junior Kenny Perez's (Orlando, Fla./Riverland CC) sac fly brought Minnesota Crookston within 6-3, and Bocchino clubbed an RBI double in the seventh for the final Purple and Gold run. Down 7-3, the Golden Eagles plated one run in the bottom of the seventh and had the bases loaded with two down, but junior John Mielke (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxboro Regional) induced a game-ending groundout.

In the second game, Buteau, Dougherty, sophomore Drew Salk (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) and first-year Aiden Burton (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame) each provided two hits, with Buteau also blasting a homer to finish the game with three RBIs. Buteau now has seven career homers, tying him for sixth in program history with Dan Doherty '02. Burton picked up his first collegiate hits and tacked on a pair of RBIs, and sophomore Kyle Cone (York, Maine/York) knocked a double for his first college hit. Junior Curt Echo (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) lasted just 0.2 innings in taking the loss as Saint Michael's used four relief pitchers to finish out the game.

Junior Thomas Kinsella (North Branch, Minn./Anoka-Ramsey CC) went 3-for-4 and scored three runs as he was one of six Golden Eagles who recorded a multi-hit performance. Classmate Jarad Nelson (Karistad, Minn./Northland CTC) threw four innings and collected the victory. Senior Alan Frank (Saint Michael, Minn./Saint Michael-Albertville) tossed three innings for the save.

Minnesota Crookston opened the game with five runs on four hits that included doubles by juniors Colton Haight (Rogers, Minn./Buffalo) and Dalton Parks (West Valley City, Utah/Brown Mackie) in the top of the first inning. The Purple Knights responded with two in the home half of the inning, thanks to Buteau's two-run home run. Minnesota Crookston scored three runs around an Elderton RBI single to lead 8-3 before a pair of RBI singles by Burton, another by Salk and a run-scoring groundout from Dougherty brought Saint Michael's within 9-7 after five innings.

The Golden Eagles extended their lead in the next half inning by plating three runs on three hits, including first-year Riley Thompson's (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) bases-loaded RBI single to left field around a pair of sacrifice flies. Cone doubled and later scored on Buteau's groundout in the bottom of the sixth, but neither side scored in the seventh.

Saint Michael's continues action tomorrow with a 10 a.m. doubleheader against the University of Minnesota Duluth in Winter Haven, Fla.