STANDISH, Maine – Senior pitcher Dan Meeken (Marshfield, Mass.) tossed eight scoreless innings to help lift Saint Joseph's College (25-15) past Bowdoin College (16-19), 6-0, in a non-conference baseball contest at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Sunday afternoon.
Meeken, who scattered just four hits and walked one with six strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the year, did not allow a runner to advance past second base in the victory over the Polar Bears, who were playing their last game of the 2015 campaign. As it played out, the Monks registered the only required run in the bottom of the first, when sophomore second baseman Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) led off with a hustle double to right field and later scored on a Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Maine) groundout to short.
Saint Joseph's gained some breathing room in the fourth, when the Royal Blue scored three runs off four hits and a Bowdoin error. With one out and Reuillard, who doubled, on second base, senior catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) knocked in his teammate with a triple to the warning track in left-center and also scored when a relay throw was misplayed, making it a 3-0 game. A groundout to second base followed, but sophomore right fielder Scott Betts (Peabody, Mass.) reached with an infield hit and scored when the following batter, sophomore designated hitter Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.) singled up the middle.
The Monks added a pair of insurance runs with two down in the seventh inning. After two quick outs, Reuillard notched his second double of the day and scored two batters later when sophomore first baseman Brett Barbati (Melrose, Mass.) doubled to right field. Coyne, who was hit by pitch, was also sent home when the relay throw went to second base, accounting for the 6-0 final.
For the Monks, Reuillard went 3-4 with two runs, a pair of doubles and an RBI, Donovan was 2-3 with an RBI, and Coyne went 1-3 with two runs, a triple and two runs batted in. Junior Corey McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) replaced Meeken on the hill in the ninth and worked an efficient 1-2-3 inning, tossing seven of eight pitches for strikes in the process.
Bowdoin freshman pitcher Logan Simon (Los Angeles, Calif.) took the loss after allowing four runs off eight hits and a walk over five innings. Relievers Connor Rooney (Southborough, Mass.), Max Vogel-Freedman (West Hartford, Conn.) and Jon Fraser (Marshfield, Mass.) combined to two runs off three hits during three innings of work.
Prior to the start of the contest, a brief on-field ceremony was held in honor of the Monks' five seniors: Meeken, Coyne, Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine), Alex Valenti (Lawrence, Mass.), Anthony Zawistowski (Otisville, N.Y.) and Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus). The 2015 class has helped the Monks post a 125-51 (.710) overall record and a 50-10 (.833) mark in conference play with three Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances over the last four seasons.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 26-22-3 all-time versus Bowdoin College, a team the Monks defeated by a 13-12 score at Mahaney Diamond on April 13th. Prior to this season, St. Joe's had not topped Bowdoin twice in the same year since 2008.
Saint Joseph's resumes play with a pair of home games versus Bates College on Tuesday. The first game is slated to start at 4:00 PM.
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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.
