James Cronin was 4-for-7 with three doubles, but the Wells College baseball team took advantage of big rallies in the middle innings to sweep St. Lawrence 12-5 and 8-5 in the Saints' season-opening doubleheader on Sunday afternoon in Aurora, New York.

Cronin, who led off both games, was 3-for-4 with three doubles in the opener, then legged out an infield single to go 1-for-3 in the nightcap.

"We played with a lot of energy today and had many contributions up and down the lineup," said Saints' interim head coach Kenny Collins. "Unfortunately we didn't execute in some key moments. It was great to get our season started, but we have a lot of improvements to make before conference play."

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Game 1: Wells 12, St. Lawrence 5

Wells centerfielder Jordan VanHerpe was 2-for-2 with four RBI and a stolen base to lead the Express to two big innings and a win in the first game.

St. Lawrence built a 2-0 lead through three innings on Nicholas Butler's RBI single in the first inning and sacrifice fly in the third, but Wells responded with eight runs in the fourth to take the lead for good.

Wells' first nine batters reached base on two hits, an error, five walks and one hit batter. VanHerpe hit a two-run double, and Zack Odum, who led off the inning with a triple, hit a sacrifice fly to score the last run of the inning. The Express also scored five runs on a combination of walks, wild pitches, passed balls and errors in the inning.

The Saints cut the lead to 8-5 with a three-run fifth, thanks to an RBI double by Andrew Circelli, an RBI single by Chris Watson and a passed ball, which allowed Circelli to score.

The Express responded immediately, however, with another four runs in the bottom half of the frame. Ian Crawford plated the first run with a sacrifice fly, and VanHerpe hit a two-run single and later scored on an error to put the game out of reach.

Butler was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI for the Saints. Odum was 2-for-2 with two triples for Wells.

Zach Kemp earned the win for Wells, allowing five runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walks in five innings pitched. Derek Shea threw the final two innings of the seven-inning contest for the Express, allowing just one hit and striking out two.

Jack Sylvia took the loss, allowing five runs in three-plus innings. He had two strikeouts and walked five. 

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Game 2: Wells 8, St. Lawrence 5

The Saints once again built an early lead, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning off a sacrifice fly by Butler and an RBI double by Drew Courtwright, but Wells catcher Dylan Nolan was 2-for-2 with six RBI on a grand slam in the third inning and a two-run double in the fourth to lead the Express to another come-from-behind victory.

Trailing 7-2 after four, St. Lawrence did make the game interesting with two runs in the fifth inning on an RBI single by William Montgomery and an RBI fielder's choice by Circelli in the fifth. Wells starting pitcher Jared Strait, however, worked out of the inning by striking out the side with the bases loaded.

St. Lawrence once again loaded the bases in the sixth inning, this time with one out, but could only plate one run on a sacrifice fly by Circelli.

Derek Shea gave the Express an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

Montgomery was 2-for-3 for St. Lawrence, while Jimmy Liberatore was 2-for-4.

Ryan Foody was 2-for-3 and VanHerpe was 2-for-4 with a double for Wells.

Strait earned the win, allowing four runs on five hits and eight strikeouts and four walks in five innings. Derek Shea picked up the save for Wells, allowing one hit with one strikeout in 1.1 innings of relief to close out the game.

Andrew Matthews took the loss for St. Lawrence, allowing seven runs (sixearned) on six hits with three strikeouts and three walks in 3.1 innings pitched. Liam Reiner, Cameron Morrissey and Michael Watson were all effective out of the bullpen, combining to allow one unearned run on four hits with two strikeouts and one walk in 2.2 innings of work.