BRUNSWICK, Maine - In a battle worthy of regionally-ranked
teams, the Bowdoin College and Saint Joseph's College baseball
teams played to a 4-4 tie in Brunswick on Monday afternoon. The
game was called after nine innings due to oncoming darkness and
deteriorating weather conditions. The Polar Bears (21-5-1) are
ranked third in latest New England poll, while Saint Joseph's
(27-6-1) stands fifth.
The Monks appeared to be in control for the first seven innings, as
starting pitcher Steven Stout allowed just three
hits over the first seven frames. Saint Joseph's scored twice in
the third inning, on a triple to right field by Wade
Oliver, and added another run on a solo homer down the
right-field line by Dustin Spiller to lead 3-0
heading into the eighth. The Polar Bears battled back, however, and
deadlocked the game with three runs in the inning. Jared Lemieux,
who tied the school record
for career hits with 172, smacked a run-scoring single to center
that scored John Lawrie from second base. Ricky Leclerc followed
with a sharp single to left and, with two outs, Jon Koperniak tied
the game with a triple to right field that soared over the head of
St. Joe'sright-fielder Chris Doughty.
The Monks replied with a run in the top of the ninth, as
Brian Schools laced a single to center to score
pinch-runner Stephan Gorsun and reclaim the lead,
4-3. But Bowdoin catcher Mike Buckley threw out Schools attempting
to steal second base to keep the deficit at a single run. In the
bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Pat Duchette drew a leadoff walk
and pinch-runner Ben Yormak stole second. A Chris Bucci groundout
to second base moved Yormak to third, and Chris McCann plated him
with a single to right. Bowdoin could not find the go-ahead run,
however, and the game was called.
The tie brings an end to a pair of lengthy winning streaks. Bowdoin
had won a school-record 11 straight games entering play on Monday,
while St. Joseph's had won 14 consecutive contests. Monday's tie
was the first for Bowdoin since the 1998 season, when the Polar
Bears played, coincidentally, St. Joseph's to a 5-5 deadlock.
THe Monks head to rival Husson College in Bangor today for a non-conference doubleheader starting at 4 PM.
