LAKE WORTH, Fla.- The Caldwell University baseball team closed out their Florida trip with a 9-7 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College.
 
The Cougars improve to 5-4 on the season, while the Spartans fall to 5-11.
 
Caldwell got four runs in the first inning to take the early lead. Senior Jalen March (Baltimore, Md.) drove in the first run with a run scoring triple and scored on a passed ball. Sophomore Noah Putney (Glassboro, N.J.) added a double to score a run, while freshman Liam Lombardi (Stony Point, N.Y.) singled to score the fourth run of the inning.
 
St. Thomas Aquinas got a run back in the top of the second but the Cougars answered with four runs in the third inning. Lombardi drove in one run with a single, while freshman Liam James (Roseland, N.J.) singled home a pair of runs. Junior Michael Lazzaro (Toms Rivers, N.J.) recorded a sacrifice fly to put the Cougars up 8-1.
 
The Spartans battled back with as they cut the score to 8-6 in the sixth inning. March added an insurance run with a double in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Senior Jerry Gamone (Union, N.J.) tossed three innings, allowing one run on one hit with three strikeouts. Sophomore Trent Williams (Glen Burnie, Md.) tossed the final three innings, allowing one hit with four strikeouts to earn the save.
 
The Cougars return north as they host the University of New Haven for a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday, March 20 at noon at the Kiwanis Oval.