FLUSHING, N.Y. – The D'Youville University baseball team's offense exploded for twenty runs, clobbering five home runs, in a 20-12 victory over Queens College on Thursday.
 
The Saints loaded the bases in the top of the first after junior Kevin Del Vecchio (Niagara Falls, Ontario) doubled, junior Colby Wilson (Webster, N.Y.) singled, and junior Billy Morris (Lancaster, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch. Senior Alec Boucher (Essex, Ontario) then stepped to the plate and launched a grand slam, his second home run of the season, to give DYU an early 4-0 lead.
 
Queens immediately got three runs back in the bottom of the first with four hits off Saints' starter Connor Joedicke (Bloomville, N.Y.). In the top of the second, Del Vecchio walked and Wilson was plunked to set up an RBI single for Morris to make it 5-3 DYU. Boucher was then hit by a pitch to load the bases and junior Jonathan Simpson (Grand Island, N.Y.) drew a walk to bring in another run. Senior Dillon Crook (Liverpool, N.Y.) proceeded to slug the Saints' second grand slam of the game to extend the lead to 10-3. DYU scored six runs in the inning, all with two outs.
 
Joedicke bounced back to work a scoreless frame in the bottom of the second, striking out two in the inning. However, the Knights tagged him for three more runs on three hits, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk in the bottom of the third to trim the Saints' lead to 10-6.
 
In the top of the fifth, after Wilson reached on a fielder's choice, Morris clubbed his team-leading seventh homer of the season over the left field wall to put DYU back ahead by six. Sophomore Derek Onevelo (Buffalo, N.Y.) joined the home run party in the top of the sixth with a solo shot to center to make it 13-6.
 
Sophomore Mihir Manerikar (Mississauga, Ontario) took Joedicke's place on the mound in the bottom of the fourth and threw hitless frames in the fourth and fifth. He ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth after a double and a single put runners at second and third with one out, but he got a strikeout and a flyout to escape the jam. He worked around a base hit in the bottom of the seventh to complete four scoreless innings in his first appearance since March 10^th, punctuating his outing with a strikeout.
 
Simpson led off the top of the eighth with a double, advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt, and came in to score on a wild pitch for the Saints' fourteenth run. After Crook walked, redshirt sophomore Michael Huff II (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) blasted his first home run of the season to increase the lead to 16-6. After three consecutive walks loaded the bases, Boucher singled and Simpson walked to bring home two more runs.
 
DYU added two more in the top of the ninth on a sacrifice fly from Del Vecchio and a single from Morris to give them a 20-8 lead. Queens pushed across four runs in the bottom of the ninth, but senior Andrew Gerber (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) was able to shut the door on a 20-12 victory for the Saints.
 
Every Saints' starter collected a hit and reached base twice, and seven of them recorded multi-hit games. Morris and Crook both drove in four runs, a career-high for Crook, and Boucher drove in five. Manerikar struck out three batters and picked up his first win of the season.
 
With the win, D'Youville improves to 5-4 in the ECC and 11-24 overall. They will return to Queens for a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 12:00 p.m.