NASHUA, N.H. - #2 Johnson & Wales University (19-13, 10-4 GNAC) defeated top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (23-14, 12-2 GNAC), 4-2, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Baseball Tournament elimination game on Saturday.
With the loss, six-time GNAC Champion Saint Joseph's, which fell to #3 Suffolk University (3-2) earlier today, is eliminated from the tournament. The Monks, listed third in the NCAA DIII New England Regional Rankings, have six regular-season games remaining, with in-region contests versus Thomas College, UMass.-Boston, Bowdoin College, Bates College (2) and MIT, and have a chance at earning an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, which begins in mid-May.
Johnson & Wales, which will face Suffolk in the GNAC title game tomorrow at 12:00 PM, fell into the losers' bracket with a 7-5 setback at the hands of Suffolk on Thursday but staved off elimination with a pair of wins today, including a 7-1 triumph over #4 Lasell College in an elimination game played at Holman this morning, to advance to the GNAC Championship for the first time since 2006. Suffolk, the only undefeated team remaining in the double-elimination tournament, has two chances tomorrow to collect their first conference crown since 2009.
Saint Joseph's, which recorded just five hits in the one-run loss to Suffolk, had difficulty stringing hits together against Johnson & Wales as well, with seven hits – including five in the final four frames – in defeat.
Scoreless through four full innings, the Wildcats broke the game open with three runs off three hits in the top of the fifth. With one out, junior Tom Elkow (Morganville, N.J.) worked a four-pitch walk and moved all the way to third on a single by sophomore Ryan Cabral (Hope, R.I.), who advanced to second on an ill-advised throw to third base. Elkow scored and Cabral moved to third on a wild pitch and sophomore Brandon Cesino (Scituate, R.I.) plated Cabral with a groundout to first base. Sophomore shortstop Lou Umberto (Cranston, R.I.) followed with a single to right field and sprinted home on a Rob Bocchetti (East Meadow, N.Y.), lifting JWU to a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fifth.
St. Joe's squandered an opportunity to score in the bottom of the sixth, when the Monks loaded the bases with two out on a pair of singles and a walk, but Wildcats starter Lane Compton (Freeland, Mich.) worked out of the jam by inducing an infield groundout.
The Wildcats tacked on an insurance run without the aid of a base hit in the seventh, as Johnson & Wales took advantage of a pair of SJC errors to make it a 4-0 game. With one out, Cabral reached on an infield miscue and, after freshman reliever Steven Albert (Worcester, Mass.) fanned Rob Ballinger (North Kingstown, R.I.) for the second out, eventually scored when Umberto hit a pop up to shallow right that was misplayed. Sophomore outfielder Scott Betts (Peabody, Mass.) ran a long distance to make the play on a ball that looked to be just foul but was called fair after it hit the heel of Betts' glove.
Now in a 4-0 hole, the Monks finally found the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth, when sophomore shortstop Max McCoomb (South Berwick, Maine) singled to right and sophomore Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.) walked with two out. Facing freshly entered reliever Bryan Quinlan (Pawtucket, R.I.), senior catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) launched a double to the wall in right field, plating McCoomb and Anthony Zawistowski (Otisville, N.Y.) – who entered as a pinch runner for Donovan – to cut the Monks' deficit down to 4-2.
Junior closer Corey McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) preserved the score by fanning a pair of batters in the top of the ninth and sophomore center fielder Dennis Meehan (Gardiner, Maine) singled through the left side with one out, but Quinlan closed out the game with a pair of fly outs.
For the Monks, Coyne went 2-4 with a double and a pair of RBI and McCoomb was 2-4 with a run in the setback. Senior Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine) took the loss after allowing three runs off five hits in 4.2 innings while Albert gave up an unearned run with a strikeout in two innings of work and McNamara finished the game by fanning four in 2.1 frames of relief.
For the Wildcats, Bocchetti went 2-4 with two-bagger and an RBI while Compton improved to 5-1 on the year after giving up two runs on five hits and three free passes with five K's in 7.2 innings. Quinlan closed out the game and allowed a pair of hits with a punch out in 1.1 innings of work.
#GOMONKS
Follow Saint Joseph's Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram!
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 474-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.
