AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Drew University baseball team closed out its spring break trip to Florida with its fifth straight victory, as it downed Utica College 5-4 on Thursday.
 
The Rangers (6-3) finished 5-1 on its trip to the Sunshine State.
 
Sophomore Nick Garbooshian and freshman Matteo Gruendig turned in stellar performances for Drew. Garbooshian fired seven innings, scattered six hits, and recorded a career-high eight strikeouts while Gruendig finished 4-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. In addition, sophomore Zach Maxwell went 2-for-4 with a triple while classmate Dylan Gallagher was 2-for-3.
 
Freshman Jordan Delude tossed the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his first career save.
 
The Pioneers led 2-0 after two and a half innings before Drew scored four unanswered runs to assume a 4-2 lead after five innings of play. Maxwell singled home a run in the third before a two-run error gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Freshman Nick Donofrio made it a 5-2 game with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
 
After working out of jams in the first and third innings, Garbooshian (1-0) was nearly perfect the rest of the way. He retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced from the fourth through the seventh and sat down 12 in a row at one point. Garbooshian recorded at least one strikeout in every inning but one.
 
Sophomore Brody Allyn took to the mound in the eighth and worked 2/3 of an inning while the Pioneers scored a run to make it 4-3. Delude was then summoned out of the pen, and after hitting a batter to load the bases, he struck out a batter to end the inning.
 
Freshman Trevor Kirkby ripped a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the eighth to put the Rangers up 5-2.
 
Utica had the tying run at the plate in the ninth after drawing a leadoff walk. The Pioneers loaded the bases with one out, but Delude induced a pop-out and groundout to end the game.
 
The Rangers open their Landmark Conference schedule with a three-game series at Catholic University this weekend, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at noon.