STANDISH, ME – Sophomore first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, MA) hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to lift Saint Joseph's (26-11, 12-2 GNAC) past Norwich University (1-26, 1-13 GNAC), 4-3, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball action at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Tuesday afternoon. The Monks collect the top seed in the conference tournament with the result.

St. Joe's and Norwich were scheduled to play a doubleheader at Mahaney Diamond last Saturday but, due to rain, the twinbill was cut short with the Monks firmly in the lead after five innings in the opener. As of Monday morning Johnson & Wales, which owned the tie-breaker over the Monks, possessed the top seed in the GNAC tourney, but the Wildcats split with Emerson College on Monday evening to fall to 11-3 in league play. St. Joe's, 11-2 in GNAC tilts with a game in hand, was required to finish the two-game set against Norwich with the outcome deciding the #1 seed in the GNAC playoffs.

As the top seed, Saint Joseph's will host the winner of tonight's #4 Lasell College/#5 Albertus Magnus GNAC Tournament play-in game in a nine-inning contest on Thursday, game time TBD.

The Monks had a difficult time stringing together good at bats against Cadets starter Brad Hudson '13 (Eugene, OR), who fell to 0-6 on the year after yielding four runs (two earned) off five hits and six walks in 6.2 innings.

St. Joe's finally pushed the winning run across in the bottom of the seventh by successfully executing the small ball approach. Nate Martin '13 (Chebeague Island, ME) led off the final frame with a bunt single and Chris Campbell '11 (Rochester, NH) followed with a bunt hit of his own. Sam Butts '13 (Saco, ME) moved both runners up a base with a sac bunt and Todd Keneborus '11 (Hollis Center, ME/Cheverus) was awarded first base via intentional walk to load the bases for Pratt, who lofted a short fly to center that was hit far enough to plate the speedy Martin for the game-winning run.

Norwich would strike first when, with two out and Kyle Fitzsimmons '14 (Stratham, NH) on first base, Kyle Gidari '14 (Deering, NH) turned on a 1-1 offering from Jimmy Kennedy '13 (York, ME) and lofted it over the left field fence.

The Monks responded immediately with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Ian Lee '11 (Hampden, ME) worked a walk and later scored on a passed ball and Alex Markakis '14 (Lynnfield, MA), who reached with a single, scampered home on a Dan Achorn '12 (Bow, NH) single to knot the game at two-apiece.

The deadlock did not last long, however, as the Cadets took a 3-2 lead when Dustin Shimkus '13 (Collinsville, IL) singled and scored on a Jordan Badstuebner '14 (Manchester, CT) single in the top of the third.

Saint Joseph's used an unearned run in the bottom of the third to tie the game yet again. Campbell opened the inning with a walk and sprinted home when a towering fly ball, hit by Keneborus, was dropped by Shimkus in center field.

Neither team was able to mount a serious scoring threat until the Royal Blue pushed the winning run across in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Saint Joseph's used six different pitchers in the win with Sean Drake '13 (Lebanon, NH), who fanned two and did not yield a hit in one inning, earning the start. Kennedy allowed two runs off three hits in one inning and Chris Bryant '14 (Gray, ME) gave up one run on three hits and struck out one batter.

Joe Gruntkosky '14 (Peabody, MA) and Sam Stauber '14 (Cumberland, ME) combined to work a pair of perfect frames and Chris Dion '11 (Lawrence, MA, now 2-2 on the year, collected the winning decision after allowing one hit with two K's in two innings.

Devin Cilley '14 (Turnbridge, VT) went 2-3 and Charles Schaub '14 (East Hampton, CT) both went 2-3 in a losing effort for the Cadets.

Six teams advance to the GNAC Baseball Tournament with the top two seeds earning a bye in the play-in round, which is single-elimination and currently underway. Earlier today, third-seeded Suffolk University opened the playoffs with a convincing 17-0 win over #6 Emerson College and will play at #2 Johnson & Wales on Thursday. Fourth-seeded Lasell is hosting #5 Albertus Magnus in a 7:30 PM start.

The double-elimination portion of the tourney begins on Thursday and the four remaining teams will travel to Saint Joseph's on Saturday. The championship game will be played at Mahaney Diamond on Sunday.