STANDISH, ME – Sophomore righthander Chad Rafferty (Keene, NH) tossed a complete-game shutout and fanned a career-high 12 batters to help propel top-seeded Saint Joseph's (28-11, 12-2 GNAC) past #2 Johnson & Wales (21-20-1, 11-3 GNAC), 4-0, in a GNAC Tournament Semifinal contest at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Saturday afternoon. St. Joe's will face #3 Suffolk University (20-18, 9-5 GNAC) in the conference championship tomorrow at Mahaney Diamond in a 12:00 PM start.

Suffolk began the day with a 10-6 win over #4 Lasell College (21-15, 8-6 GNAC) and capped the action with a 7-2 triumph over Johnson & Wales. The Monks and Rams will meet in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Championship for the fourth consecutive season on Sunday afternoon.

The tourney action began with a 10:00 AM contest featuring Lasell and Suffolk in a losers' bracket tilt. The Lasers held a 6-1 lead in the middle of the fourth, but the Rams roared back with nine unanswered runs – three in the fourth, one in the fifth, two in the seventh and three more in the eighth, to secure a 10-6 triumph and stay in the hunt.

For Lasell, which blew a five-run lead in a 13-9 loss to St. Joe's in a GNAC Quarterfinal game on Thursday afternoon, the season came to a disappointing end with the eerily familiar loss. Freshman reliever Eric Howard (Newton, MA) fell to 4-1 on the season after allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits and two walks with two K's in 3.1 innings. Starting pitcher Billy Uberti '14 (Newton, MA) was replaced on the hill after yielding five runs off 10 hits with a pair of K's in 4.2 frames of work.

Sophomore third baseman Bobby Stachura (Middletown, CT) led the Lasers' offensive effort by going 3-5 with three runs and a double while Josh Sullivan '12 (Rockland, MA), Carlton Lentini '12 (Wilmington, MA) and Chris Pittman '14 (Brockton, MA) added two hits apiece in the losing effort.

Rams starting pitcher Mitch Monke '12 (Springfield, OH) went the distance, allowing six runs (four earned) off 10 hits and four walks in nine innings. The southpaw fanned four batters and improved to 4-2 on the year with the winning decision.

Freshman shortstop Devan Jones (Roslindale, MA) went 3-5 with three runs, a double, a home run and four RBI and senior catcher Mark Annese (Winchester, MA) was 2-4 with a long ball and three RBI in the Suffolk triumph. Freshman third baseman Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, MA) and senior center fielder Nick Travelyn (Bedford, NH) added two hits apiece for the Rams.

Next on the day's docket was the winners' bracket tilt featuring the tourney's top two seeds, #1 St. Joe's and #2 Johnson & Wales. Rafferty, who has now allowed just three runs and 13 hits with 33 strikeouts over his last 29 innings, set the tone early with a pair of punchouts in the top of the first.

Wildcats starter Jason Tsangarides '11 (Meriden, CT) nearly matched the Monks' hurler pitch for pitch over the first two innings, but the Royal Blue broke through with three runs off four hits and a JWU miscue in the bottom of the third to provide Rafferty with more than enough support. Sophomore first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, MA) notched an RBI single and later scored on a wild pitch and senior catcher Ian Lee '11 (Hampden, ME), who reached with a base hit, scampered home on an infield error to make it a 3-0 game.

Neither team was able to mount much of a scoring threat until St. Joe's added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single by sophomore center fielder Nate Martin (Chebeague Island, ME). The Wildcats managed to load the bases in the top of the ninth on a single, a walk and an SJC error, but Rafferty retired the side with two K's and a harmless groundout to first base.

For St. Joe's, senior second baseman Chris Campbell (Rochester, NH) went 2-5 with a run scored and Martin was 2-3 with an RBI. Rafferty improves to 4-1 on the year with the winning decision. His 12 K effort is the most by a Monks' pitcher since former teammate Pat Moran '10 whiffed 12 in a win over Norwich University on April 11th, 2009.

JWU senior first baseman Matt Yaeger (Glendale, AZ) produced half of the Wildcats' hits with a 3-4 effort and third baseman Alex Pezzuto '14 (Hastings, NY) added a 2-3 performance in a losing bid. Tsangarides fell to 2-4 on the year after allowing four runs (three earned) off nine hits and five walks with five K's in eight innings.

With the win, St. Joe's improves to 10-5 in the history of the series with Johnson & Wales University.

The semifinal setback knocked the Wildcats into the losers' bracket of the tourney and the team was forced to remain on the field to face Suffolk less than an hour after the disappointing defeat.

The top story of the day's closing contest was the pitching effort put forth by Suffolk sophomore southpaw Matt Sliney (Brockton, MA), who was perfect through four and carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning. He improved to 2-2 with the decision and allowed two runs off four hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in a complete-game effort.

The Rams came out swinging and managed to score two runs off three hits in the bottom of the first off JWU starter Alex MacKay '12 (Sanford, ME). Freshman designated hitter K.C. McCarthy (Concord, MA) led off the frame with a single through the right side and moved up two bags when the next batter, Cintolo, doubled down the left field line. Senior right fielder Andrew Babb (Ashland, MA) plated McCarthy with a single up the middle and Annese drove in Cintolo with a sac fly to right to make it a 2-0 game.

 The Suffolk bats came alive again with four runs off four hits with two out in the bottom of the fourth. Cintolo and Babb notched RBI singles and Jones plated a pair with a triple to center during the offensive outburst.

The Wildcats' baserunner drought came to an end when designated hitter Pete Rosa '13 (Ambler, PA) worked a walk as the leadoff hitter in the top of the fifth. Sliney's no-hit bid ended when third baseman Jake Dickerson '14 (Garnet Valley, PA) singled down the left field line with one out in the seventh.

Cintolo belted the first home run of his collegiate career, a solo shot to deep left field, in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Rams to a 7-0 lead. The Wildcats finally got on the board with two runs off three hits in the top of the ninth with Dickerson and Yaeger scoring, but the effort was too little, too late.

For the Rams, Cintolo went 3-5 with three runs, a double, a home run and two RBI, Babb was 3-4 with a pair of RBI and Jones added two hits in four trips with a run, a triple and two RBI.

Dickerson, 2-4 with a run scored, was the Wildcats' only repeat hitter in the loss. MacKay fell to 2-2 on the year and allowed six runs off 11 hits and three walks before giving way to reliever Chris Depalma '12 (Taunton, MA), who gave up one run off two hits and a walk in one inning. Junior righty Marc Sommerhalter (Emerson, NJ) finished the game and allowed one hit in 1/3 inning.

Saint Joseph's, winners of five conference championships (three North Atlantic Conference (NAC) and two GNAC) over the last six seasons, has defeated Suffolk in the GNAC title tilt in two of the last three years.

Suffolk, which entered the elimination round of the tourney after suffering an 8-7 loss to JWU in a quarterfinal on Friday,  must defeat St. Joe's twice tomorrow afternoon in order to capture the conference title.