AUBURN — Now in their fourth year watching Mario Meucci ruin otherwise glorious May afternoons, MVC baseball coaches and pitchers aren’t offering the Winthrop third baseman many chances to tee off.

Meucci took advantage of the rare generosity Friday afternoon, ripping Mitch Lorenz’s two-strike offering to the gap in right-center field. The two-run triple triggered a four-run second inning, padding the Ramblers’ lead and paving the way to a 7-4 win over scuffling St. Dom’s.

“They’ve been pitching me outside quite often,” Meucci said. “I went to Oak Hill and hit a couple out in (batting practice), and ever since then they’ve been throwing me in the dirt. I got walked three times last week, so it felt good to get another hit.”

Bennett Brooks and Cabot Lancaster added RBI singles later in the inning, furnishing a 6-0 lead.

That was more than enough with senior aces Ben Allen and Matt Sekerak on the hill for the Ramblers (5-1). Neither allowed an earned run. Allen worked into the sixth. He struck out three and walked three.

“Usually when you come down here you’re expecting a 3-2, 4-2 game,” Allen said. “To get a 6-0 lead makes it a little more comfortable, that’s for sure.”

Allen, Sekerak and Meucci each notched two of the Ramblers’ 10 hits.

Winthrop bounced back from its initial loss of the season Monday at Hall-Dale and handed St. Dom’s (3-4) its third consecutive loss for the first time in Bob Blackman’s 13-year tenure.

“I’m in new territory. We’re not making the key play when it’s in front of us, and when you don’t, the next batter, it’s going to snowball,” Blackman said. “You can’t have a guy down 0-2 and call for a slider in the dirt and throw a slider in the middle. The little things like that are what we’re missing.”

The Saints had chances to escape the first inning, as well, but fell in a 2-0 hole.

Sekerak singled with one out and Meucci hustled out a squib to third for another base hit. Dakota Carter’s smash to shortstop took a nasty hop and produced the first run. Ben Caprara grounded out for an RBI.

Allen singled and Sekerak walked ahead of Meucci’s rope in the third.

St. Dom’s collected at least one hit in every inning, but Lancaster to Adam Hachey to Antonio Meucci double plays ended the first and third frames and squelched all momentum.

The latter gem, begun by Lancaster’s scoop of a low liner off the bat of Caleb Labrie, saved two runs.

“Defense was key, those two double plays. Then you have the defense pick up the offense and good things happen to us,” Winthrop coach Marc Fortin said. “This is just what the doctor ordered.”

Two throwing errors led to a pair of runs in the St. Dom’s fourth, highlighted by Justin Keaney’s RBI single out of the No. 9 hole.

Keaney’s third hit of the day plated another run in the sixth. Winthrop padded its lead a half-inning prior, though, thanks to a two-out walk by Hachey and singles from Allen and Sekerak.

“It feels good to get it under our belts,” Mario Meucci said. “It’s a good rebound from last game.”

St. Dom’s got within three and brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh on a hit batsman, followed by Winthrop’s fourth error, then a floater by Nate Richard that dropped into shallow right.

Sekerak lured Matt Keaney into a fly ball to Allen in center for the final out.

“It’s probably one of our best games every year,” Allen said of the Winthrop-St. Dom’s rivalry. “Something interesting always happens here.”

Mitch Lorenz was 2-for-4 with a stolen base and went the distance on the mound for the Saints. He fanned six and walked two.

St. Dom’s also is in unfamiliar Class C West Heal Point territory. A regional finalist 11 of the past 12 years, the Saints currently are one spot beneath the playoff cut line.

“A lot is execution, and we’re lacking something there. We can’t put a complete game together,” Blackman said. “You can’t spot a team like that six runs.”

koakes@sunjournal.com

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