WINTERHAVEN, FL - For the second consecutive day on their southern swing, Saint Joseph's (2-2) lost the first game of a double header in nine innings, but managed to win the nightcap to earn a split. St. Joe's fell to Wittenberg University (1-3) in the opener, 8-5, and bounced back to win game two, 5-3, buoyed by a complete game effort from southpaw Kyle Dorr ‘10 (North Berwick, ME), who whiffed five batters in the win. Ian Lee ‘11 (Hampden, ME) notched three hits, two doubles and four RBI's in the twinbill and Chris Campbell ‘11 (Rochester, NH) recorded four hits for the second-straight day. Outfielder Eric LaBatte ‘11 (Rochester, NH) blasted his first home run of the year, a solo shot in the fourth inning of the first game.

GAME ONE

Wittenberg struck first, netting a pair of runs in the first inning with a little help from some small ball. Leadoff hitter Noe opened the contest with a walk and Yednock proceeded to move him over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Williams laced a single through the left side and later scored on a double down the left field line off the bat of Bush to put the Tigers up early, 2-0.

SJC starter Mason Roberge ‘11 (Franklin, NH) settled in, allowing one hit over the next two innings and the Monks scored two to tie the game in the bottom of the third. Second baseman Mike Burdin ‘10 (Gardiner, ME) and center fielder Wade Oliver ‘09 (Owls Head, ME) both worked walks to start the inning and Campbell bunted for a hit to load the bases for Lee. The junior catcher grounded to first baseman Ray Noe ‘11 (Dublin, OH), who threw out Burdin at the plate, but the return throw from catcher A.J. Bush '10 (Troy, OH) sailed into right field, allowing Oliver to score. Campbell advanced to third on the play and was sent home on a Ben Grant-Roy '10 (Biddeford, ME) sac fly to center, tying the game 2-2.

The Tigers regained the lead on their next turn at bat, as Manny Rodriguez '11 (Lawrenceville, GA) plated Stefan Kegler '11 (Columbus, OH) with a double to left center and later scored on a Noe sac fly to right.

Monks designated hitter Pat Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) stuck out to start the bottom of the fourth and LaBatte followed with his first tater of the season. Sunday's hero, Craig Woodbrey '10 (Gorham, ME), nearly made it back to back jacks, as he lined a triple off the right-center fence, but wound up stranded as Burdin ripped a liner to Noe at first and Tigers starter Zach Spring '11 (Powell, OH) fanned Oliver on a breaking ball to end the inning with the Monks trailing, 4-3.

Tigers right fielder Patrick Williams '09 (Plainfield, IN) led off the top of the fifth by crushing a triple to the right-center gap and scored on a wild pitch. Kegler doubled and advanced to third on another wild pitch, but Roberge struck out Kory Winter '10 (Dublin, OH) to stop the threat.

With the help of reliever Chris Nanof '10 (Clinton, MA), who held the Tigers in check for three innings, St. Joe's chipped away at the 5-3 deficit, adding a run in the bottom of the fifth and another in the seventh to tie the game at five apiece. Grant-Roy scored both runs for the Monks, as he walked with two outs in the fifth and was sent home by a Todd Keneborus '11 (Hollis Center, ME) triple and scored on a Moran double after leading off the seventh with a single between third and short.

St. Joe's squandered a chance to win the game in the eighth inning. Lee doubled with two outs in the, but pinch runner Steve Gorsun '09 (South Berwick, ME) would not advance, as Grant-Roy hit a sharp grounder to Wittenberg shortstop J.T. Thompson '09 (Clayton, OH), who tossed the ball to first for the final out of the frame.

Nanof was highly effective for three innings, but appeared to run out of gas in the ninth. With one out, Trent Nutter '10 (Newark, OH) and Bush hit back to back doubles and Kegler plated Bush with a single to give the Tigers a 7-5 lead. Kegler later scored on a wild pitch to put his team up 8-5.

WU reliever Joey Borders '12 (Springfield, OH) worked a perfect ninth to clinch the Tigers' first victory of the 2009 season and earn the save.

For St. Joe's, Campbell, Grant-Roy, Keneborus, Moran and LaBatte recorded two hits apiece as the Monks registered 13 hits as a team in the losing effort. Roberge fanned four and allowed six hits in five innings of work and Nanof, who suffered his second loss of the year, went 3.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts.

For Wittenberg, Nutter was 3-4, Kegler 2-4 and Williams and Bush both went 2-5 in the victory. Spring worked 4.2 innings and whiffed six while allowing two earned runs.

GAME TWO

Still recovering from their second extra-innings loss in as many days, the resilient Monks secured a 1-0 lead almost immediately in the nightcap contest. With one out, Campbell reached via an infield single, advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on a liner to left off the bat of Lee to put the Royal Blue on top for starter Kyle Dorr.

Dorr got off to a shaky start, however. The junior southpaw hit WU leadoff hitter Ray Noe with a pitch to start the bottom half, allowed a bunt single to Thompson and walked Williams to load the bases with no outs. SJC second sacker Chris Campbell made a nice play ranging to his left and threw to shortstop Dan Achorn '12 (Bow, NH) to get the force at second while Noe scored to even the score. Dorr seemed to settle in and induced a 6-4-3 double play ball off the bat of Kegler to minimize the threat.

St. Joe's plated four runs, all with two out, in the top of the second to take a 5-1 lead. With one out, catcher Travis Adams '10 (Saco, ME) walked. After third baseman Justin Frechette '12 (Oxford Hills, ME) struck out, Achorn laced a single up the middle to lift the Monks to a 2-1 edge. Oliver followed with a single through the left side and Campbell packed the bases with an infield single. Lee provided the punch with a bases-clearing double to deep left center to give his starter some breathing room.

Dorr hit cruise control, allowing five hits and one run over the next four innings. The only hiccup came with two down in the seventh, when Williams hit a line drive solo blast over the left field wall. The deep fly proved inconsequential, however, as Nutter grounded to short to end the game.

For St. Joe's, Lee was 2-4 with a double and four RBI's and Campbell went 2-3 with two runs scored.

Wittenberg second baseman Tyler James '11 (Coldwater, OH), 2-3 with a run scored in the loss, was the only Tigers player to record multiple hits. Starter Kory Winter took the loss on the mound, allowing five earned runs and seven hits in six innings of work.

Saint Joseph's will take on Thomas More College (KY) on Tuesday in a nine inning contest. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 AM.