MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The Caldwell College baseball team completed its season-opening trip to South Carolina with a 9-2 victory over Queens College Sunday afternoon at the Polo Grounds. Freshman outfielders Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City), Raymond Keelan (Barnegat, NJ/Southern Regional) and Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) each homered for the Cougars, who turned in a perfect 4-0 record in South Carolina.

Velazquez opened the scoring with a lead-off home run in the top of the third. Junior catcher Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NY/Holy Trinity) and freshman shortstop Andrew Robertson (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) each had RBIs in the third to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead. Keelan's fielder's choice in the fourth plated another run before the Knights got on the board in the bottom of the fourth to make it 4-1 Caldwell. A two-run double by freshman Doug Hilgenberg (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) in the fifth and Keelan's second home run of the season in the sixth gave Caldwell a commanding 7-1 lead. Saxon, who batted .619 on the four-game trip, belted his first collegiate home run in the eighth inning, followed by an RBI double by Velazquez that scored sophomore Aaron Hoffstatter (Glasco, NY/Saugerties) in the ninth.  Queens scored one run in the bottom of the ninth, but it was not enough to prevent the Cougars from remaining unbeaten.

Velazquez, Keelan and senior third baseman Billy Ryan (Toms River, NJ/Manchester) each had three hits, while Robertson and Hoffstatter had two hits to fuel the Caldwell offense. Sophomore right-hander Stephen Pfeil (Hampstead, NH/Pinherton Academy) picked up his first win of the year, allowing three hits and an unearned run in four innings. Freshman A.J. Bispo (Bloomfield, NJ/St. Joseph of Montvale) tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings, giving up just one hit in relief.

The Cougars' next game is on Mar. 10, when they travel to face Southern Connecticut State in a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.