KENOSHA, Wis. - Four runs in the fourth inning helped the Benedictine University baseball team rally from an early deficit to win the season opener at Carthage College.

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 6, Carthage 4

THE DETAILS
• Chayancze Stirbis set the tone for the 2016 season by homering to lead off the game
• Carthage came back with three runs in the second inning against Benedictine starter Joe Palasiewicz to take the lead
• Nicholas Quick notched an RBI single in third to bring Benedictine within 3-2
• The fourth inning rally opened with Brandon Gipson hit by a pitch and a single from Erik Callaghan
• Following a sacrifice bunt, Justin Montalvo tied the game with a groundout and an error put Benedictine ahead before a two-run homer from Kyle Bock provided insurance
• The win marked the first for head coach Adam Smith in his debut at the helm

FROM THE COACH
"As far as first games go, this one really couldn't have gone much better," said head coach Adam Smith. "We received good pitching by Joe Pa, played fantastic defense, and used some very timely hitting along with some home runs mixed in. Stirbis leading off the season with a homerun really got us going in a positive way. I also loved that when we fell behind 3-1 to a very good Carthage team, we didn't hang our heads. Instead, we fought back and were very tough throughout the game. Joe Pa didn't have his best stuff today on the mound but battled his tail off and kept us in the lead. Our bullpen of Maves and Nesbitt did a great job of closing the door. It was a great team win."

STAT LEADERS
• Joe Palasiewicz worked 6.2 innings in his season debut, allowing three earned runs
• Marty Maves tossed a perfect 1.1 innings with Christopher Nesbitt closing the door
• Callaghan finished with three hits to lead a 10-hit attack
• Stirbis notched a pair of hits while scoring three times from the leadoff slot

UP NEXT
Benedictine (1-0) plays at Carthage again on Saturday afternoon