FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Heidelberg University baseball team got a quality start from left-hander Kyle Fluharty and defeated Thiel College 10-4 on Tuesday as part of the Gene Cusic Classic. The Student Princes pounded out 16 hits and improved to 2-2.

Fluharty allowed four runs, two earned, and struck out six in 7.0 innings. Jordan Watson and Chris Thomas each worked an inning of scoreless relief.

Arneal Squibb and Adam Hershberger each had four hits to led the Tricolor.

Thiel (1-2) struck first with four runs in the second inning. The Tomcats combined four hits, three of which came on bunts, with two Heidelberg errors to inflict the damage.

After the inning, Fluharty settled down, allowing five hits and no runs over the next five innings.

"Kyle threw three pitches for strikes and kept Thiel off-balanced," said head coach Matt Palm. "I thought he did a great job settling down after that bad inning and put us in position to win."

The Student Princes erupted for six runs in the fourth. Squibb and Steven Morse led off with singles. Alex Grove chased Squibb home with a double. Morse scored on an RBI single from Eric Monroe. A single by Derek Hug plated Grove. With runners on first and third, Trevor Oldham sent a bouncer to shortstop. The throw to second went into right field and allowed Monroe to tie the game. After a sacrifice fly by Hershberger scored Hug, Joe Staab closed out the scoring with a single to center that scored Oldham.

Hershberger hit a one-out triple in the sixth. Two batters later, Staab drew walk. Both scored on a triple to straight-away center by Squibb.

Heidelberg plated single runs in the seventh and ninth to close out the scoring.

"Adam and Arneal had some good swings today," said Palm. "More importantly, we had some big two out hits that allowed us to turn a two-run game into a more comfortable lead."

The Student Princes will return to Port Charlotte, Fla., for a Wednesday matchup with Adrian College. First pitch with the Bulldogs is slated for 12:30 p.m.