SAINT AUGUSTINE, Florida - The American International College baseball team opened its season at Flagler College with a four-game series played February 21-23. The Yellow Jackets came close in three of those games, but fell by scores of 9-8, 3-2, 14-0, and 7-3. 

AIC starts the season 0-4.

In the series opener, Flagler hit a sacrifice fly in the first to start the scoring, but AIC answered with two in the third as Alex Dye notched his first two RBI in an AIC uniform, driving in Cole Patterson and Josh Frometa.

In the fourth, Peyton Torre smacked a single between the shortstop and third baseman, and thanks to a throwing error from left field, Richie Segura was able to score from first, while Torre went to third. Sam Tanous then followed with an RBI single through the right side that Torre came home on.

The Saints scored one of their own in the fourth, but then flipped the script with a six-run sixth that saw two bases-loaded hit-by-pitch sandwich a grand slam, and the hosts added a run in the seventh as well. 

AIC rallied in the eighth; Torre was plunked himself with the bags juiced to push Patterson home, and Dye came in a batter later on a wild pitch. Two hitters later, Yeudy Ramirez drove Segura home with a bases-loaded walk as well.

In the ninth, AIC had the tying run on, and Aidan Streeter bashed a double into the left-center gap. Josh Mikulski scored, but a great relay cut Jordani Marcano down at the plate, and AIC was unable to get Streeter home in the 9-8 setback.

In game two, the Saints again struck first, but AIC answered again in the second; Streeter hit a grounder that was mishandled, allowing Wesley Alfonso to score, and Tanous doubled him home to give AIC a 2-1 lead that held until the fifth when the Saints hit a solo home run to level the score.

That 2-2 mark stood until the ninth; both teams had runners on, but it was Flagler that drove one home to win 3-2.

Leo Vitale had a strong showing in his collegiate debut on the bump; he threw six innings of two-run ball on five hits with three punchouts in the 3-2 setback. 

The third game was the lone blowout; Flagler scored four in the first and three in the second, as well as one each in the fourth and sixth and five in the third to win 14-0.

In the finale, AIC struck first; Frometa crushed a two-run shot to left that also served as his 100th RBI in a Yellow Jackets uniform. AIC then added a run in the sixth as a Ramirez grounder was mishandled, allowing Segura to score. 

However, the Saints struck twice in the home half to pull within one, and then flipped the game around the following inning with a grand slam followed shortly after by an RBI single to take a 7-3 lead that ended up being the final score. 

Patterson was AIC's hits leader on the weekend with six, while Dye had five and Tanous and Streeter each had three. 

AIC will next play a four-game set with the University of Bridgeport in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Feburary 27-March 1.