MALDEN, MA – A pair of stellar pitching performances pushed Saint Joseph's (21-2, 6-0 GNAC) to a doubleheader sweep over conference opponent Emerson College (5-7, 0-4 GNAC) on Saturday evening.
GAME ONE
St. Joe's junior pitcher Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) was once again dominant, tossing seven innings of three-hit ball while walking four and fanning eight in a 5-2 victory over the Lions in the opening contest. The Monks jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two frames and added an insurance run in the seventh while Emerson's two runs came in the third inning.
Saint Joseph's utilized patience and a think-team offensive approach to plate two runs in the top of the first. Sam Butts (Saco, Maine), Dan Achorn (Bow, N.H.) and Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) all worked walks to load the bases with one out and Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) pushed across the first run via base on balls. The following batter, freshman catcher Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) sent Achorn scrambling home with a groundout to the right side, lifting the visitors to a 2-0 lead.
The Monks used the bats to double their advantage with two runs of three hits in the second frame. Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine) opened the inning with a line-drive single to center and Butts singled up the middle two batters later. Both players would score when freshman Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) tripled down the left field line, making it a 4-0 contest in favor of the Monks.
Rafferty, perfect through 2.2 innings, walked second baseman Adam Speakman (Barrington, R.I.) on a very close 3-2 pitch scored when Butts mishandled a single to center off the bat of James Sullivan (Medfield, Mass.). After another free pass, senior first baseman Peter Maltzan (Lexington, Mass.) chopped a base hit to right, scoring Sullivan and cutting the SJC lead down to 4-2 after three full innings.
St. Joe's gained a bit of breathing room with an added run in the top of the seventh. Coyne led off with a walk and Pratt followed with a sac bunt, moving his teammate up a bag. Junior Nate Martin (Chebeague Island, Maine) replaced Coyne at second and scored two batters later when Lops drove a single to left field, accounting for the 5-2 final.
For the Monks, Lops went 2-4 with a double and two RBI, Coyne drove home a pair, and Butts and Achorn scored two runs apiece.
Emerson starting pitcher Ben Quick (Marcellus, N.Y.) suffered the loss after allowing two runs off three walks in 1/3 inning of work. Brendan Topp, Andy Brightman (North Wales, Pa.), Zak Levine (Beverly, Mass.) and Julian Rifkind (Brooklyn, N.Y.) combined to yield three runs off six hits and six walks in 6.2 innings of relief.
GAME TWO
The nightcap was closely contested as the score was tied on two occasions before the visitors put two on the board in the top of the seventh to secure the win and the sweep. Sanborn was also dominant on the hill, fanning a career-high 10 batters while allowing three runs (two earned) off eight hits and two walks in a complete-game effort.
The Monks jumped out to an early lead again, as Butts walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI single by Achorn in the first frame. The Lions had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the second but would score only one run, as Sanborn induced a pair of groundouts to minimize the damage and preserve a stalemate through two innings.
St. Joe's regained the lead in the fourth with two runs off four hits, all with two out. Lops reached on a fielder's choice and senior third baseman Dan Brown (Portland, Maine/Deering) followed with a double down the right field line, giving the Royal Blue runners on second and third. Junior second baseman Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine) provided the big hit, a single through the right side scoring both Lops and Brown, to give his team a 3-1 advantage.
The Monks' lead would last until the fifth inning when Emerson knotted the game with two runs off two hits and an SJC miscue. Speakman worked a free pass to lead off the frame and scored two batters later when Maltzan slapped a single to left field. Maltzan would score the game-tying run when the following hitter, senior catcher Geoff Lopes (Falmouth, Mass.), singled to center and the ball was misplayed.
A scoreless sixth frame ensued but the even-keel Monks would come through with two runs off three hits and an Emerson error in the top of the seventh to seal the victory and the sweep. Brown led off with a single to left, moved up a base via Chase sac bunt, and scored the go-ahead run on a Butts single up the middle. The next SJC batter, Achorn, dropped down another sac bunt but Rifkind, who had just entered in relief, picked up the ball and heaved it down the right field line. Butts attempted to score all the way from first on the miscue, but was cut down at the plate on a nice relay by Maltzan. Achorn, who scampered to third amidst the mayhem, touched the plate when Coyne drilled a single up the middle, lifting the Royal Blue to a 5-3 edge.
Sanborn added some extra heat to his fastball in the final frame, but Lions shortstop Ryan Garber (Holmdel, N.J.) was able to reach via base hit to right and sprinted to second on a Lorenc error. Unfazed, the sophomore pitcher, who fanned the final batter in the sixth and the leadoff hitter in the seventh, settled in to strike out both Maltzan and Lopes to finish the game.
Brown paced the SJC offense by going 3-3 with a double and two runs scored and Chase added two hits and a pair of RBI in two at bats on the night. Butts was 2-3 with a run and an RBI and Lops chimed in with two hits and a run scored in three trips to the plate for Saint Joseph's.
Maltzan was the Lions' lone repeat hitter, having gone 2-4 with a run and an RBI in the setback. Emerson starter Conor McDonough (Hanson, Mass.) was hit with the losing decision after allowing four runs off 11 hits and a walk and Rifkind gave up one hit and an unearned run in 2/3 inning of relief.
With the sweep Saint Joseph's improves to 10-0 in the history of the series with Emerson College. The Monks, ranked as the top team in New England (NEIBA) and 18th in the country (ABCA/Collegiate Baseball), have now won 10 straight games.
Saint Joseph's will host Bowdoin College on Monday in a single nine-inning tilt slated to start at 4:00 PM. Emerson will play at Gordon College on Tuesday in a non-conference twinbill set to begin at 2:00 PM.
