STANDISH, Maine – Four Saint Joseph's College (8-8) pitchers combined to allow two unearned runs on just seven hits in a pair of victories over Plymouth State University (7-11) at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Sunday afternoon. The Monks opened with a 12-2 victory and completed the sweep with a 4-0 triumph.
GAME ONE:
St. Joe's kicked off the opener by scoring four runs on three hits and a Plymouth miscue in the bottom of the first, when Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) and Matt Thibeault (Nashua, N.H.) notched RBI singles.
Plymouth State answered with two runs without hitting a ball out of the infield in the top of the second, as the Monks committed three errors to allow the Panthers to cut their deficit to 4-2.
Saint Joseph's put the game out of reach by plating four runs on six hits in the bottom of the second. Gravel belted a two-run double and Jonathan Dube (Rochester, N.H.) and Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) delivered RBI base hits to help the hosts claim an 8-2 advantage.
The Monks completed the game scoring in the third inning, when Ronan Chisholm (North Chatham, Mass.) registered a sacrifice fly and Thibault launched a three-run homer over the left field wall.
ON THE MOUND:
- SJC senior starter Matthew Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) was outstanding in his third start of the year and allowed two unearned runs on four hits with four strikeouts in six innings; freshman reliever Matthew Murphy (Plymouth, Mass.) tossed a clean seventh inning
- For Plymouth State, starter Eoin Hamell-Kelleher took the loss after yielding eight runs (four earned) on nine hits in two innings, Sam Dyckman gave up four runs (three earned) on one hit in 2/3 inning, and Ethan Foster and Braxton Brown combined to toss 2.1 innings of scoreless relief
OFF THE BAT:
- Thibault was 3-for-3 with two runs, a home run, and three RBI
- Chisholm went 2-for-2 with two runs, a double, and an RBI
- Senior center fielder Ryan Tessier (Concord, N.H.) was 2-for-4 with two runs
- Gravel doubled and registered three RBI
- For the Panthers, shortstop Danny Quinn was 2-for-2
GAME TWO:
The nightcap contest was a pitchers' duel in early going as SJC starter Matt Poff (Pelham, N.H.) and PSU opener Bobby Cliche combined to toss 2 1/2 innings of shutout baseball. The Monks broke the scoreless stalemate with two runs on one hit and a pair of PSU errors in the bottom of the third, when Dube plated Tessier with a sac fly and Thibault knocked in Chisholm with a single to left field.
The hosts doubled their lead with two runs on two hits and another Panther error in the bottom of the fourth, as Chisholm sent Jacob McGill (Derry, N.H.) home with a single to center and Dube delivered Tessier across the plate with an infield groundout.
Poff proceeded to face the minimum number of hitters during the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and freshman Jason Johnson (Thomaston, Conn.) struck out a pair of batters in a scoreless seventh inning.
ON THE MOUND:
- Poff improved to 2-0 on the season after allowing three singles with eight strikeouts in six shutout innings; Johnson fanned two batters in a scoreless inning of work
- For PSU, Cliche took the loss after giving up four unearned runs on three hits and four walks with four K's in 3.1 innings; Noah Wachter struck out six in 2.2 innings of scoreless relief
OFF THE BAT:
- Chisholm was the only repeat-hitter in the nightcap and was 2-for-2 with a run and an RBI
- Tessier scored two runs and Dube posted a pair of RBI
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 21-14 in the history of the series with Plymouth State University.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's hits the diamond on Thursday when the Monks host Clark University in a single nine-inning game slated to start at 4:00 PM.
