AUBURNDALE, Fla. - Webster University closed its eight slate in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational here Saturday afternoon by posting a 6-2 victory over the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

With Saturday's victory, Webster closes its Spring Break trip to Florida with a 6-2 record and improves its overall record to 10-3, while UW-La Crosse was playing its first game of the season and is 0-1 on the year.

In Saturday's game, Webster's offense finished with nine hits, including three hits and two stolen bases by junior centerfielder Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) and two hits and two runs scored by senior second baseman Danny Strohm (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University). 

Meanwhile, Webster continued to get solid pitching on only on Saturday, but throughout its eight game Florida trip as they finished the trip with a 2.22 team ERA as the Gorloks pitching staff tossed 69 innings and allowed 59 hits, 27 runs (17 earned runs), while walking 21 and striking out 51. 

Against UW-La Crosse, junior Dakota Borman (Freeport, Ill./Highland CC) tossed the first four-plus innings before being replaced by junior Garrett Davis (Geneva, Ill./Elgin CC) after popping open a blister on his pitching hand. Prior to the injury, Borman had allowed two hits and one run, while walking three and striking out two in his 57 pitch outing. 

Davis (2-0) earned the win as he pitched 2.2 innings and allowed three hits and one run, while striking out two and sophomore Jake Anderson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) replaced Davis with two outs in the seventh and pitched 1.1 perfect innings and recorded a strikeout. 

The Gorloks would break open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth inning as they used two hits and took advantage of two Eagles' throwing errors to plate four runs and a 4-0 lead. In the inning, sophomore third baseman Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) walked with one out, stole second and scored two batters later on Strohm's RBI double to left center. Strohm would when the next Gorlok hitter, junior leftfielder Adam Lovell (Lafayette, Ind./Saint Joseph's (Ind.) College), hit a run scoring single through the right side to make it 2-0. Junior catcher Joe Swanson (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine West) would then get hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with two outs. Lovell would eventually score on an error by UWL starting pitcher Connor Cook on a failed pick-off attempt and Swanson would score when sophomore shortstop Matt Staker (El Cajon, Calif./Saint Augustine) reached on a throwing error by Eagles third baseman Brennan Schmitt. 

UWL would plate its first run of the season in the bottom of the fifth as they used a hit, a walk, a groundout and an RBI single from Zach Carney off of Davis. 

The Eagles pulled within 4-2 in the seventh inning thanks to back-to-back singles and a wild pitch by Davis. 

Webster would add a run in the top of the eighth on walk and an RBI triple to the deepest part of the park in center by Swanson to push the Gorloks in front, 5-2. Swanson's triple scored Strohm, who walked with one out in the inning. The triple was just the second of the season for the Gorloks.

The Gorloks added some extra insurance in the top of the ninth inning off of James Witt, who was the third Eagle pitcher of the game. In the inning, Hopp reached on a leadoff infield single, advanced to second on a bunt by freshman rightfielder Brandon Dryer (Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe), reached third on his second stolen base of the game and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of redshirt junior designated hitter A.J. Smith (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin). 

In the ninth, the Eagles put their leadoff hitter on base as he was hit by a pitch from Anderson. Anderson would be replaced on the mound after that hit batsman by junior All-American reliever Shane Donovan (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and Donovan would force the first batter he face to ground into a 4-6-3 double play and then ended the game on a ground out to second. 

UWL finished with five hits in the loss and left five runners on base. 

The Gorloks defense turned three double plays and have now turned 17 double plays through the first 13 games this season. While Webster turned three double plays and didn't commit an error, UWL had three errors in the loss. 

Cook (0-1) took the loss for the Eagles as he tossed four innings and allowed four hits and four runs (two earned), while walking two and striking out seven. 

The Gorloks will now return home to St. Louis on Sunday morning and are set to begin St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Wednesday, March 20 as they travel to Louisville, Ky., for a doubleheader against Spalding University beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. Spalding University was tabbed as the favorite to win the East Division in the league's Preseason Coaches' Poll.