WINTER HAVEN, FL - Saint Joseph's
ended a three-game losing streak by overpowering St. Joseph's (NY)
on Friday, 14-0. Monks right-hander Pat
Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) tossed a gem, allowing
just two hits and no walks while fanning nine in eight innings, to
earn the win. The Monks rapped 15 hits in the offensive onslaught
and were led by Ian Lee '11
(Hampden, ME), who went 3-3 with two runs and an RBI.
Mike Burdin '10 (Gardiner, ME),
Ben Grant-Roy '10 (Biddeford, ME)
and Peter Allain '12 (Salem, NH)
had two hits apiece for the Royal Blue.
St. Joe's led 9-0 after three innings, having scored three runs in
each of the first three frames, and Moran did not
allow a base runner until Mike Lanza '11 (Northport, NY) and Mark
Cisek '10 (Sayville, NY) opened the third with back to back
singles. The junior's stat line of eight innings, nine punch-outs
and two hits allowed all qualify as career bests.
The Monks notched two hits and worked four walks in the first
inning off St. Joseph's (NY) starter Ken Nizinski '11 (Levittown,
NY) to post an early 3-0 lead. With one out,
Burdin walked, Lee singled and
Grant-Roy earned a base on balls to pack the
bases. Third baseman Todd
Keneborus '11 (Hollis Center, ME/Cheverus) kicked
off the scoring with a sac fly to right to send home
Burdin, and Eric
LaBatte '11 (Rochester, NH) plated Lee with a
double down the left field line. Right fielder
Craig Woodbrey '10 (Gorham, ME)
walked to load the bases for catcher Travis
Adams '10 (Saco, ME), who collected the fourth
base on balls of the inning to plate Grant-Roy and
lift the Monks to a 3-0 advantage.
With one out, Burdin started the second inning by
reaching on a misplayed ball by Eagles shortstop Jeff Coyle '10
(Mastic, NY) and advanced to third on a perfectly-executed run and
hit play by Lee, who sent a sharp single through
the right side of the infield vacated by the second sacker.
Lee swiped second and Grant-Roy
sent both SJC runners home with a double to deep right-center. Up
next was Keneborus, who found a first-pitch
fastball to his liking and drove it to left for a base knock,
scoring Grant-Roy from second and giving
Moran more support than he would require with St.
Joe's firmly in the lead, 6-0, after two innings.
Moran escaped unscathed with some help from his
infield in the top of the third inning. After Lanza and Cisek
collected base hits to open the frame, Eagles catcher Mike
Hernandez '09 (Lake Grove, NY) grounded to
Keneborus at third, who fired the ball to second
to start a 5-4-3 twin killing. The third out of the inning was
recorded by Monks shortstop Dan
Achorn '12 (Bow, NH) on a play that could be
tabbed as the best of the day. St. Joseph's (NY) second baseman
Mike Gerdes '10 (Wantagh, NY) hit a chopper up the middle, but the
rangy Achorn found the ball with his mitt, turned
glove side, and fired to Grant-Roy, who made a nice pick, to close
out the inning.
After Adams worked a walk to start the inning, the
Eagles staff called to the bullpen for righty Nick Monaco '12
(Medford, NY). The reliever didn't fare much better than his
predecessor, as he proceeded to issue a pair of wild pitches as
part of a sequence to walk Achorn and balked,
sending Adams across the plate. Monaco went on to
unleash two more wild pitches, the last of which allowing
Achorn to score. Burdin singled
up the middle with two out and Lee drove him home
with a double to deep right-center to give the Monks a cushy 9-0
lead after three frames.
All was quiet until the seventh inning when the Eagles brought in
Matt Timmons '09 (Miller Place, NY) to spell Monaco on the hill.
Achorn greeted the righty reliever with a single
through the left side and Wade
Oliver '09 (Owls Head, ME) registered a base hit
up the middle. Both players moved up a base when
Michael Hebenstreit '09
(Centerville, MA) grounded out to Timmons and
Achorn scored, making the score 7-0, Monks, on a
passed ball.
With his single in the seventh, Oliver became the
11th player in program history to reach the 150-hit plateau.
Allain jumpstarted a four-run eighth for St. Joe's
by lacing a double down the left field line and moved to third on a
groundout to short by Steve
Gorsun '09 (South Berwick, ME). In his first at
bat of the season, Cameron
Sprague '12 (Portland, ME/Deering) collected an
RBI, scoring Allain by hitting a grounder to
shortstop. Pinch hitter Pat
Hamilton '12 (Plaistow, NH) blasted a triple off
the wall in right, scoring catcher Jon
Dahms '12 (Gorham, ME), who reached earlier on a
miscue by Eagles first baseman Prateek Thaman '12 (Hauppauge, NY),
and crossed the plate himself when Nick
Lemieux '12 (Thomaston, ME) doubled to left to
notch his first collegiate hit. Burdin followed
with his first career triple, a deep fly just beyond the reach of
right fielder Tim Caden '12 (Setauket, NY), to drive home
Lemieux and cap the game scoring.
Tri-captain Andy Pooler '09
(Southwest Harbor, ME) worked a scoreless ninth and helped his
cause by starting a 1-6-3 double play to close out the one-sided
contest.
The Monks will close out their southern swing with a nine inning
contest against SUNY-Cobleskill on Saturday. First pitch is
scheduled for 9:15 AM.