AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Junior righthander Brendan McNerney struck out 11 and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) baseball team pounded out 19 hits in defeating Iowa Wesleyan, 20-3, on Thursday night at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex. With the win, the Engineers improve to 3-5 overall, while the Tigers drop to 6-7.

McNerney (1-1) allowed just one run on four hits over 5.0 innings to pick up his first win of the year. Sophomore Griffin Kelley worked 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, while freshman Thomas Neuman made his collegiate debut on the hill, recording the final two outs of the eighth, including a strikeout.

RPI scored in each of the first four innings, including four runs in the opening frame. Sophomore Noah Normyle got the Engineers going with two-run single to left. Later in the inning, senior captain JT Sawyer drove in one with a fielder's choice, before classmate Nick Busby hit a line drive to right that went for a sacrifice fly.

Junior Michael Arboleda singled home the first of RPI's three second-inning runs, with Sawyer and sophomore Jimmy Jankowski plated two more with a single and groundout, respectively.

The Engineers made it 11-0 in the top of the third, with Arboleda once again delivering an RBI-base hit. Jankowski lifted a single down the right field line that brought home Jack Vaccari, before Busby plated Arboleda to cap the rally.

Arboleda drove in his third run of the game in the RPI fourth with a sac fly to center, for a 12-0 advantage.

Rensselaer scored three more runs in the top of the sixth for a 15-0 lead. Arboleda and senior Christian Spagnuola drew bases loaded walks in front of a sac fly from Jankowski.

Wesleyan got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to an RBI-single by Tyler Cooksey. The Tigers then scored two more in the seventh on a Joseph Belarde sac fly and a Benjamin Steorts groundout to second.

The Engineers scored five more runs in the top of the ninth, highlighted by run-scoring base hits from Spagnuola and freshman catcher Jimmy Woods.

Cory Brown (2-2) took the loss for Wesleyan, allowing four runs on two hits. He recorded just three outs before being lifted in the second. William Hlady was the Tigers most effective reliever on the night, working 1.2 scoreless innings.

Twelve different RPI players notched hits in the game, including five players with multiple base knocks. Senior Ethann Meister went 3 for 6 with three runs scored, while Arboleda finished 3 for 4 with two walks, three runs and four RBI.

The 20 runs scored is the most by the Engineers since April 14, 2013 – a 23-5 victory over RIT at Robison Field.

RPI finishes its Florida Trip tomorrow afternoon at Franklin & Marshall. First pitch is scheduled for 1pm. The Tigers visit Blackburn College on Tuesday for a doubleheader (1pm).