St. Mary's, Md. - The Catholic University of America baseball team opened its 2017 season with an outstanding 14-1 victory over St. Mary's College of Maryland on Tuesday afternoon.

Junior Paul Burmester got right to it with a 2-RBI single in the first inning. Junior Brennan Cotter followed with an RBI-double to put the Cards ahead, 3-0, after the first inning.

In the third inning, during Burmester's second at-bat, he ripped a double into right center to bring home sophomore Bailey Lewis. Cotter followed with a sac-fly that scored junior Anthony Ferlise. Sophomore Ryan Tracy then drove the ball to first base to bring home Burmester. The Cardinals took a 6-1 lead after three innings.

Catholic scored one run per inning over the following three offensive showings. Junior Jake Crist hit an RBI-double in the fourth and Tracy went on to steal home in the fifth. Ferlise hit an RBI-single to left field in the sixth to advance the Cardinals lead to 9-1.

The Cardinals added three more runs in the seventh inning with a 2-RBI double from Crist who then came across the plate on an RBI-single from Lewis.

Catholic's final two runs came in the eighth inning as freshman Jeff Guile took a bases-loaded walk to bring home classmate Eric Moore. Junior Jack Hennessy hit into a fielder's choice scoring Cid Porter as the Cardinals took their first victory of 2017.

The Cardinals rotated through eight pitchers in the season opener. Sophomore Jon Mierzwa started on the rubber for Catholic. Junior Joseph Prego pitched the second and third innings and sophomore Collin Brown took the fourth.

Freshman Ross Dean threw for the fifth inning and junior Sean Carroll got his turn in the sixth. Sophomore Colin Cunningham and junior Mark Duffy took on the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, and senior closer Joseph Salzano finished on the mound for Catholic. Salzano caught  3-of-4 batters looking to close out the season-opening win.

The Cardinals continue their 2017 campaign on the road with a doubleheader versus Hood College on the campus of Fredrick Community College on Saturday, February 25.

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