AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Sophomore Dalton Hottle (Monmouth, Ill./Monmouth-Roseville) went 7.1 innings in a victorious effort to help Lewis baseball to a season opening 6-3 decision over Seton Hill on Sunday (Feb. 26) morning.

Lewis opened the scoring in the top of the first on a RBI groundout by senior Austin Mastela (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport). Seton Hill tied it up with a run in the bottom half of the frame.

The game stayed tied at one until the eighth when the Flyers scored three times. Sophomore Neal Tyrell (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) started the inning with a triple. Sophomore Ethan Bloom (Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates) followed with a walk. Mastela knocked in Tyrell with a double before junior Austin Schultz (Greensburg, Ind./Greensburg) notched a RBI single to score Bloom. Mastela was then knocked in by senior Joe Sparacio (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) to make the score 4-1.

"Austin's double was huge in the eighth," Lewis head coach Tim McDonough said. "Joe had a big two out hit in that inning as well."

Seton Hill earned two runs back in the bottom of the eighth to chase Hottle. It could have been worse though, as a nice relay caught a runner trying to score at the plate.
Hottle allowed three runs on five hits in 7.1 innings. He didn't walk a single batter and earned three strikeouts.

"Dalton was outstanding," McDonough said. "I probably left him in one batter too many but he was dominating from the start."

The Flyers got the two runs back in the top of the ninth on a two-run single by sophomore Ethan Bloom (Schaumburg, Ill./Hoffman Estates).

Junior Sam Couch (Bolingbrook, Ill./Joliet Catholic) picked up his first save of the season, throwing the final 1.2 innings.

"Sam came in and really did a nice job cleaning up the eighth and finishing it off," McDonough said. "Neal was a spark for us in all the innings we scored."

Perry DellaValle took the loss for Seton Hill.

Seton Hill went 43-13 last year and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Lewis improves to 1-0. Seton Hill falls to 1-3. The Flyers continue play in Florida on Monday (Feb. 29) in a doubleheader with Findlay. First pitch in game one is set for 11:30 a.m.