STANDISH, ME – Second-seeded Saint Joseph's College (26-10, 13-3 GNAC) outlasted #3 Suffolk University (25-9, 12-4 GNAC), 8-6, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Tournament contest at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Thursday evening.
The Monks held a 7-1 lead after five frames, but the Rams' bats came to life over the final four innings, a development that transformed a potential blowout into a nail biter for the Royal Blue. The visitors scored a run in the sixth and three in the seventh to cut the hosts' lead down to two and Saint Joseph's responded with an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to make it an 8-5 game. Suffolk mounted one last push in the top of the ninth and scored on a Devan Jones (Roslindale, Mass.) single, but junior reliever Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.) fanned the first two batters he faced and induced a popup off the bat of JC Collette (Amesbury, Mass.) with the bases loaded to finish the GNAC Tournament game and collect his second save of the season.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's moves on to face top-seeded Johnson & Wales University, which tipped #4 Lasell College by a 6-3 margin in other tournament play this evening, in a winners' bracket contest at Holman Stadium in Nashua, N.H. at 3:00 PM on Saturday. Suffolk plays Lasell in a win-or-go-home game at 12:00 PM on Saturday. From this point forward, all 2013 GNAC Baseball Tournament games will be played at Holman Stadium.
Junior right fielder Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) ignited the Monks' offense by going 3-5 with three runs, a double, a pair of home runs and three RBI in the victory. Freshman left fielder Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Maine) went 2-3 with two doubles and first-year shortstop Zack Graham (Marlborough, Mass.) was 2-5 with a run and an RBI in the tourney triumph.
For the Rams, junior first baseman Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) was 3-5 with a run and three RBI and junior center fielder Mac Jacobson (Norfolk, Mass.) went 2-4 with a pair of runs in the loss. Freshman catcher Jon Lapolla (Providence, R.I.) recorded two hits with a run and an RBI in four at bats, and Jones was 2-5 with two runs RBI in the conference tournament setback.
On the mound, Saint Joseph's senior Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) earned the win after allowing five runs (three earned) off nine hits and a walk with three strikeouts in six-plus innings. Junior Nick Whittaker (Yarmouth, Maine) yielded a run off two hits with a pair of K's in two frames of relief and Gruntkosky struck out two in a clean ninth inning.
Suffolk sophomore starter Frank Tierney (Hyde Park, Mass.) took the loss after giving up seven runs (six earned) off eight hits and three walks while fanning four in five innings. Sophomore reliever Cal Carroll (Methuen, Mass.) allowed a run off three hits and a pair of walks with a punch-out in two frames and second-year southpaw Josh Desai (Shrewsbury, Mass.) struck out one batter in a spotless eighth inning.
Lorenc lifted the Monks to an early lead, as the junior slugger launched a two-run tater off the top left corner of the scoreboard in left with nobody out in the bottom of the first inning. Graham led off the frame with a two-strike single up the middle and promptly scored on the Lorenc big-fly to make it a 2-0 game in favor of the Monks.
With Rafferty cruising, Saint Joseph's tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the third to secure a 4-0 cushion. Sophomore designated hitter Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) provided the key hit with two out, as the reigning GNAC Rookie of the Year belted a two-run double to right-center – scoring Lorenc and sophomore catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) – to put his team on top by four through three innings.
Suffolk, held without a baserunner through the first three innings of play, finally produced a hit when Jacobson slapped a 1-1 Rafferty offering to left field for a single. The Rams would not score until their next turn at the bat, when Lapolla plated senior left fielder Chris Stanley (Placentia, Calif.) with a single down the third base line.
The Suffolk run did not faze the Monks as the hosts went on to score three runs off three hits in the bottom of the fifth. Lorenc led off the inning with a deep home run to straightaway left field while Coyne was hit by a pitch, Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) walked and Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine) singled to load the bases for Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass.), who made it a 6-1 game with a sac fly to center. Reuillard followed by working a free pass to re-load the bases to bring up senior center fielder Sam Butts (Saco, Maine), who plated Pratt with a base hit. Graham then came up with the bases full and put on an impressive at bat, but Tierney escaped further damage by fanning the freshman shortstop with a curveball.
Not about to go down easily, the Rams chipped away at the deficit with a run off an infield error with two out in the top of the sixth to make it a 7-2 game. Suffolk eliminated the Monks' comfortable cushion with three runs in the seventh when Cintolo produced a two-run single and Jones rapped an RBI base hit to cut the hosts' lead down to 7-5 through six and a half innings. Whittaker replaced Rafferty following the Jones single and was able to work out of the jam with a fly-out and two punch-outs.
Saint Joseph's used a freshman connection to secure some breathing room with two out in the bottom of the seventh, when Reuillard doubled to left and was removed in favor of Louie Vigars (Stratham, N.H.), who scored on a Graham base knock up the middle.
Whittaker worked a 1-2-3 top of the eighth and Desai did the same in the bottom of the frame to set the stage for what developed into a tenuous ninth inning for the Royal Blue. In the midst of his first relief appearance of the season, Whittaker plunked Jacobson and surrendered consecutive singles to Cintolo and Jones, with the latter bringing Jacobson home for the Rams' sixth run of the night. Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 then brought in Gruntkosky, who finagled his way out of the mess with two K's and a pop-up.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 20-12 in the history of the series with Suffolk University and has now defeated the Rams in nine-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2011 campaign.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
