AUBURNDALE, Fla. – Saint Joseph's College (6-6) rattled off 25 hits and four pitchers combined to fan 11 batters in a 16-4 victory over #24 Wisconsin-Stevens Point (2-6) on Friday morning.

SJC HIGHLIGHTS

• Senior catcher Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) went 4-5 with a run, a double, and tied a career-high with five RBI
• Junior Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) tied the Monks' single-game record with five hits in six at bats with three runs, three RBI, and a stolen base
• Junior shortstop Max McCoomb (South Berwick, Maine) was 3-5 with two runs, a double, and a triple
• Junior outfielder Scott Betts (Peabody, Mass.) added three hits, two runs, and an RBI in five at-bats
• Senior outfielder Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Maine) tripled and scored three runs with a stolen base
• Freshman outfielder Jared Gagne (Dover, N.H.) and junior first baseman Brett Barbati (Melrose, Mass.) chipped in with two hits apiece

PITCHER OF RECORD

Making his third start of the year, junior Nick Malatesta (Wrentham, Mass.) put forth an excellent outing, allowing three runs (two earned) off eight hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in six innings. The right-hander was off to a rough start after giving up two runs off two hits and an error in the bottom of the first, but recovered by yielding one run off six knocks over the following five frames to improve to 2-1 on the season.

Relievers Thomas Fortier (Falmouth, Maine), Steven Albert (Worcester, Mass.), and Chris Gerossie (Chester, N.H.) combined to allow one run off two hits and a walk with four K's in the eighth and ninth innings.

For the Pointers, starter Cole Erikson (Deerfield, Wis.) took the loss after giving up six runs off 10 hits with a pair of K's in three-plus innings.

KEY PLAYS

• Trailing 2-1 in the top of the third, the Monks loaded the bases on consecutive singles by Gagne, Black, and freshman Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) to set the stage for Lops, who cleared the bases with a double off the left-center fence. The senior captain scored when the following batter, junior designated hitter Jameson Collins (Sandown, N.H.) singled down the left field line, lifting St. Joe's to a 5-2 advantage.
• St. Joe's scored single runs in the fourth and seventh, as McCoomb tripled and scored on a Black single in the former and Reuillard walked, stole second, and sprinted home on a Lops single in the latter, making it a 7-3 game.
• The Monks blew the doors off in the top of the eighth with six runs off eight hits, all but putting the game away in the process. Black and freshman Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.) both rapped two-run singles while Reuillard delivered a run with a triple and Lops knocked in his fifth run with a base hit to cap the half inning with SJC ahead, 13-3.
• The Pointers countered with a run in the eighth, but the Monks answered with three runs off four hits in the top of the ninth to account for the 16-4 final. Junior Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.), pinch-hitting for Reuillard, delivered a two-run double and sophomore catcher Jacob White (Salem, N.H.) sent freshman pinch runner Jonathan Panaro (Atkinson, N.H.) home with a single through the left side.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• With 25 hits, the Monks came within one base knock of tying the program's single-game record, which was set in a 29-0 victory over Rivier College on April 4th, 2009
• Saint Joseph's hit into three double plays in today's lopsided win, the most twin-killings since the Monks endured four DP's against Bates College on May 8th, 2013
• For McCoomb, the triple in the fourth frame was the 100th hit of his NCAA career

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

Today's contest was the first-ever meeting – in any sport – between Saint Joseph's and Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Monks are now 7-3 all-time versus opponents from the state of Wisconsin.

Last spring, UW-Stevens Point went 33-14 overall en route to winning the program's 11th Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship. The Pointers, who have been ranked as high as 13th nationally this season, have been ranked in 33 consecutive D3baseball.com polls and for 27 consecutive weeks by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Collegiate Baseball over the last two-plus seasons. UW-Stevens Point, the alma mater of Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jordan Zimmerman, has appeared in the NCAA DIII World Series on five occasions, most recently in 2013.

Three of the Pointers' six losses so far this season have been at the hands of nationally-ranked opponents (#5 Southern Maine, #15 Rutgers-Camden, and #20 St. Thomas).

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's concludes the team's second Florida trip with a single game versus University of Maine-Farmington tomorrow at 10:00 AM.

#GOMONKS

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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.