Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (6-1) jumped out to a comfortable lead and had to hold on to down Castleton (4-4) by an 18-11 score on Saturday afternoon. Marco Meleo (Freehold/Freehold Boro) rapped four hits and scored five times to lead the Ospreys.
 
Stockton started quickly plating 14 runs in the first three innings. Five markers in the first inning, was highlighted by a Nick Trifiletti (Linwood/Mainland) three run bomb and a 5-0 advantage.
 
Ryan Swift (Sewell/Washington Twp.) knocked in two of the four runs in the second frame for a 9-0 lead, before the Ospreys plated five more counters in the third. RBI by Swift, Evan Geisler (Lodi/Lodi), Rico Viani (Monroe Twp./Monroe Twp.) and a two-RBI triple by Trifiletti put Stockton up 14-0 after three frames.
 
The Spartans crawled back, scoring all 11 of their runs over the next five innings, closing the gap to 16-11, heading to the bottom of the eighth. Stockton was able to stave off the visitors in their final at bat, on RBI by Viani and John Perrino (Wall/Wall) to set the final score at 18-11.
 
Swift added three hits, four runs and four RBI, with Jay Marchese (East Brunswick/East Brunswick) adding another three hits to the Ospreys 17-hit assault on the day. Trifiletti finished with six RBI with Viani adding three more RBI to the total.
 
Phil DeMarco (Ocean Twp./Ocean Twp.) earned his first career win on the hill at Stockton, tossing the first five innings and striking out six.
 
Freshman Evan Okamoto (Piscataway/Piscataway), Andrew Luongo (Manahawkin/Southern Regional), Tyler Apt (Williamstown/Williamstown) and Ryan Moore (Waldwick/Waldwick) threw one inning each to finish up the contest.
 
Stockton will have a quick turnaround, as the Ospreys will face NYU tomorrow at home for a doubleheader. First pitch is 11:30am.