DOBBS FERRY, N.Y.-The American International College baseball team got their season started with a bang, scoring 29 runs in two wins over Mercy College, 16-12 and 13-4 in six innings, ahead of their annual trip to Florida.

AIC's record stands at 2-0 on the campaign.

Senior third baseman K.J. White opened game one with a remarkable feat, ripping a two-run inside-the-park home run to right field to put AIC up 2-0; rookie left fielder Matt Krause pushed another run across by reaching on a dropped fly ball and classmate and right fielder Andrew Ciacciarelli drove him in to give AIC a 4-0 lead before the hosts could get to the plate.

The Mavericks scored in the bottom of the first and twice more in the bottom of the second to cut it to 4-3 before the Jackets offense could do more damage, taking advantage of a few defensive miscues and a White triple to score five times in the top of the fourth. Senior first baseman Chris Starcun capped the scoring in the frame by driving White in with a base hit.

Mercy again closed the gap with three runs of their own in their half of the inning, but after a scoreless fifth, sophomore center fielder Josh Aviles smacked an RBI single. A few batters later, Starcun hit a bases-loaded double to drive in three. The next frame, Ciacciarelli drove in another run to extend the lead further.

The hosts refused to go quietly, once again piling on runs in the home half of the seventh, with a three-run triple keying in a five-run frame to bring the score to 15-11, but the two teams only managed a run each in the eighth as AIC held on for the 16-12 win. Senior Anthony Crudale was the winner in relief, tossing 3.2 innings after starting junior Jason Coscio went 3.1 frames.

In the second game, the Jackets slugged their way to more big innings. Down 1-0 after one, rookie right fielder Dan Frawley tied the game with an RBI single to right and his classmate, center fielder Owen Wosleger, followed with a two-run single to put AIC up 3-1.

The following frame, the Jackets added five more, with Starcun scoring on a passed ball before Frawley had his second RBI single of the game and was himself driven in by freshman shortstop Joe Pepe's double. Wosleger reached on an error that allowed Pepe to score and then came home on a double by sophomore second baseman Brendan Carter.

AIC continued to pile on their hosts, with Pepe smacking a two-run single to center in the fourth, and then in the fifth, Carter brought himself in by stealing home; AIC's final run was on a Krause triple that scored White, with the game being called after six frames due to darkness and AIC up 13-4.

Rookie hurler Matt Costanza went the shortened distance in game two to earn his first career win, allowing three earned on nine hits while fanning three and not walking a batter.

AIC will make the trip to Florida, where their first matchup will be with Wilmington in Miami at 1:00 p.m. on March 10.