Jake Fling

Hank Schlueter

The College of Wooster's bats came alive during the second week of its annual swing in Florida, as the Scots averaged 10.5 runs while winning five of six games in Port Charlotte to return to Ohio with an overall record of 10-1.

That marks Wooster's best 11-game start to a season since 2010 when it also went 10-1 on its way to winning a North Coast Athletic Conference championship.

After averaging 7.4 runs over the first five games, played in Fort Myers, the Scots' offense stepped up these most recent six games, batting .355 as a team with 24 extra-base hits (17 doubles, four triples, three home runs). Wooster scored a pair of decisive victories over Lancaster Bible College (12-2 and 20-8), and also reached double figures in wins versus the Univ. of Mass.-Boston (11-6) and Farmingdale State College (10-6), and prior to that edged SUNY New Paltz (4-1), behind a fine performance on the mound from Anthony Malky.

Among the Scots' top hitters were freshman leadoff man Jake Fling and senior Frank Vance, as they each had multiple hits in five of the six games. Fling went 13-for-24 overall (.542) with 11 runs, three doubles and four stolen bases, and Vance 12-for-26 (.462) with four doubles, two triples, and 10 RBI.

While Fling consistently set the table and Vance regularly came through in the No. 3 spot, Wooster received big outings from a number of different players lower in the lineup. Kevin Hagen, Jamie Lackner, and John McLain all produced four-hit games, with Hagen's coming in the 12-2 win against Lancaster Bible. Lackner delivered four hits, including a double, and drove in three to pave the way versus UMass-Boston, and he also homered twice in the Farmingdale State game, one coming in the seventh inning when teammate Joey Gilmore also cleared the fence with a two-run shot. McLain's four-hit production consisted of a double and three singles against Farmingdale State.

Lackner and McLain both went 10-for-25 (.400) the last six games, as did Kenny Reckart, who contributed two doubles and a triple among his 10 base knocks. Also batting .400 during this stretch were Jake Kail (4-for-10) and Chris Fafalios (2-for-5).

On the mound, Malky only yielded one run on six hits over the first seven innings in the victory over SUNY New Paltz, while Hank Schlueter earned two of the wins recently, one as a starter and one as a reliever. The junior southpaw tossed six scoreless innings during the first Lancaster Bible game while striking out eight, and he added 1.1 scoreless of middle relief against Farmingdale State.

Michael Houdek threw a quality start versus UMass-Boston with just two earned runs allowed over the first six innings, and he picked up the win.

Additional top pitching performances included Jacob Pries, who gave up just one run and four hits in two middle relief appearances (6.0 innings), and Michael Whitaker, who saved the SUNY New Paltz game and struck out five among three perfect innings.

Wooster will make its 2015 debut at Art Murray Field on Wednesday at 4 p.m., when it plays host to Muskingum University (6-8).