MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Catholic baseball used strong pitching and a three-run fifth inning to come away with a 7-2 victory over Penn College in South Carolina this morning.

Will Hanson picked up his first win with the Cardinals after 5.0 scoreless innings. Hanson struck out seven and scattered three hits to improve to 1-0 on the season. Jake Lynes was impressive in relief, striking out four in 2.2 innings of one-hit ball.

Jesse Lacefield and Ben Nardi combined for seven of the team's ten hits on the day with Lacefield driving in a game-high three runs. Mitchel Johnson, Joe Marini, and Justin McCarthy each had RBIs for Catholic.

Nardi and Lucas Malave singled in the first inning for the Cardinals, setting up Marini with runners on first and second and two outs. Marini pulled one through the hole on the right side, scoring Nardi and putting Catholic ahead 1-0.

With Hanson cruising, the Cardinals tacked on another run in the fourth to double their lead. Marini drew a one-out walk before Lacefield singled to right, putting Marini in scoring position. Michael Napolitano was hit by a pitch to load the bases and McCarthy hit a sacrifice fly to let to score Marini.

Catholic started to break the game open in the fifth, loading up the bases with two outs for Lacefield who cracked a triple to center, clearing the bases, and putting the Cardinals up 5-0. The Cards tacked on one more in the top of the sixth after a defensive miscue from Penn College allowed Zach Burton to score.

The Wildcats scored a run in each of the sixth and seventh innings to cut the deficit to four, but Johnson drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to tack on an extra insurance run. Lynes closed out the 7-2 victory for Catholic, its fourth straight win.

At 9-1, this marks Catholic's best start since the 2018 team started 11-0.

Catholic will take on Coast Guard on Thursday afternoon for the third of five games in Myrtle Beach.