HIRAM, Ohio -- The Grove City College baseball team pounded out 20 hits Monday afternoon on the way to a 13-12 non-conference road win over Hiram at Fishel Field. All 25 runs came in the first five innings of the game. It is the 12th straight win for Grove City (26-9).

Five Grove City players had three or more hits Monday, led by a 4-for-5 performance from senior right fielder Josh Minnich (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley). Minnich led off the third inning with a home run, one of three extra-base hits for Grove City. 

Senior second baseman Luke Vittone (Seven Fields, Pa./Eden Christian) went 3 for 5 with a double and four runs batted in while freshman DH Kallen Durbin (Harmony, Pa./Seneca Valley) laced a double and two singles in his six at-bats. Junior first baseman Colin Marinpetro (Imperial, Pa./West Allegheny) and junior center fielder Nick Sampson (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) also had three hits. 

Minnich and Vittone both had run-scoring singles in the first inning to give Grove City a 2-0 lead. Hiram scored four times in the bottom of the first inning but Grove City forged a 4-4 tie in the third inning as Minnich homered and Sampson scored on a double play. 

The Wolverines then posted eight runs in the fourth inning. Minnich's go-ahead single scored sophomore third baseman Sam Bevin (Louisville, Ky./Wake County) while Sampson then scored on a bases-loaded walk to freshman shortsop Sam Meredith (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan). Vittone cleared the bases with a three-run double that pushed the lead to 9-4. 

Durbin followed by doubling in Vittone. Bevin's single to right field plated Durbin while Marinpetro capped the outburst by singling in junior left fielder Andrew Seest (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins). 

Vittone scored on the front end of a double steal with Seest in the fifth inning. 

Meredith, who earned the conference's Newcomer of the Week award Monday afternoon, finished 2 for 5. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Marinpetro now owns a 27-game hitting streak. 

Junior pitcher Kenny Lavrich (Franklin, Pa./Cranberry) earned the win by pitching 4 2/3 innings of relief. He blanked Hiram over the final four innings. Lavrich (3-0) struck out six men and walked four while allowing no earned runs. Freshman Dash Lanzilotta (Northfield, Ohio/Nordonia) started and pitched 4 1/3 innings. Lanzilotta yielded six earned runs.

Grove City closes the regular season Saturday by hosting Saint Vincent at 1 p.m. in a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader at Jack Behringer Field.