NEWBURGH, NY – Continuing the best start to a season in program history, the Mount Saint Mary College baseball team swept through their spring break swing through Florida with seven victories. The Blue Knights stand at 8-0 overall and return to play at Vassar College on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

In the opening game of the trip, senior pitcher Michael Redmond (Stone Ridge, N.Y.) allowed just two hits and one run in eight innings of work as the Blue Knights defeated Drew University, 4-2. Junior Mike Umphlett (North Stonington, Conn.) was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI while sophomore Louis Peisel (Brewster, N.Y.) belted a solo home run.

The Mount scored six runs in the second inning and closed the door with eight more runs in the final three innings during an 18-8 rout of SUNYIT on March 9. Umphlett was 2-for-4 and scored four runs and Peisel was 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBIs, but it was senior Brian Visconti (Newburgh, N.Y.) who stole the show. He was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, 4 RBIs, and a home run. Senior Matthew Germann (Islip, N.Y.) also drove in three runs. Sophomore Matthew Paci (Florida, N.Y.) allowed one earned run in five innings and picked up the win for the Blue Knights.

With the game tied at four against SUNY Cobleskill on Tuesday afternoon, Umphlett singled home the game-winning run in the ninth inning to give the Mount a 5-4 walk-off victory. Peisel was 2-for-4 and scored a pair of runs. Junior Greg Diamond (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) pitched a gutsy five innings in long relief, limiting Cobleskill to just four hits and two runs. Senior Jim Marsh (Maybrook, N.Y.) worked out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth to become the winning pitcher for the Blue Knights.

On Wednesday morning, Mount Saint Mary swept a pair of games from Daniel Webster College. The Blue Knights won the first game, 7-1, and the second, 7-4. Freshman Dan McCrea (Hicksville, N.Y.) pitched a seven inning complete game in the first, limiting Daniel Webster to just three hits and one run. Visconti doubled and walked twice, scoring all three times that he was on base. In the second game, the Blue Knights received five scoreless innings from junior Brian O'Connor (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) and then held off a late rally to prevail, 7-4. Freshman Brian McNoble (Lynbrook, N.Y.) drove home a pair of runs with a triple during a four-run first inning. Freshman Max Tecce (Glen Cove, N.Y.) was 3-for-4 with a run scored.

The Blue Knights rallied from an early deficit on Thursday and then scored four runs in the top of the ninth to put away Colby-Sawyer, eventually winning, 11-5. In a five pitcher effort, Diamond collected the victory with three scoreless innings. Peisel, McNoble, and Marsh each drove home a pair of runs, while Umphlett, Visconti, and Germann each scored a pair of runs. McNoble's two-run single in the third inning put the Mount ahead for good.

To close the trip, Mount Saint Mary got another spectacular performance from Redmond in a 7-0 victory over Cazenovia College. The senior carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished off a two-hit complete game, striking out ten. The Blue Knights scored all seven runs in the fifth inning, stringing together eight hits in the frame. McCrea finished 3-for-4 and collected a pair of RBI singles in the fifth.