PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN BERTHIAUME '24
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (16-17, 9-5 GNAC) posted a pair of wins over Colby-Sawyer College (7-24, 4-12 GNAC) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball action at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Saturday afternoon. The Monks walked off with a 4-3 victory in the opener and capped the day with a comfortable 9-2 triumph.
SAINT JOSEPH'S 4, COLBY-SAWYER 3:
The Monks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when senior catcher Jonathan Dube (Rochester, N.H.) belted an opposite field solo home run to left. The hosts had the bases loaded with one out in the second but failed to come up with the big hit.
The Chargers managed to score three runs on four hits – all with two out – in the top of the fourth when freshman Finn MacLennan (Ipswich, Mass.), senior Ben Brennan (Marblehead, Mass.), and first-year Jared Schmitt (Surry, N.H.) ripped RBI singles.
Saint Joseph's got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning when senior Jackson Stanton (Saugus, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a Michael Wearne (Ellington, Conn.) ground out.
The hosts' bats then went silent, as Chargers starter Zach Rogers (Mashpee, Mass.) headed into the bottom of the seventh having sat down nine straight batters. Freshman left fielder Terry Morrissey (Andover, Mass.) led off the last inning with a double down the left field line and was lifted in favor of sophomore pinch runner Logan Dee (Laconia, N.H.), who promptly advanced to third on a balk. Freshman Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) sent his teammate jogging across the plate with a single to left-center, tying the game at 3-3, and Dube came up two batters later to knock in his classmate Zach Miles (Concord, N.H.), who was hit by a pitch, with a walk-off single through the right side.
ON THE MOUND:
SJC senior starter Samuel Jalbert (Mascouche, Que.) did not factor into the decision after allowing three runs on five hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in six innings. Freshman Dylan Brander (Merrimack, N.H.) worked 0.2 innings of scoreless relief before yielding to junior closer Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.), who got the final out of the inning and was awarded the win, improving to 3-2 on the season.
For Colby-Sawyer, Rogers went the distance and fell to 3-3 after giving up four runs on six hits with three strikeouts in 6.1 innings.
OFF THE BAT:
- For the Monks, Dube went 2-4 with a run, a home run, and two RBI
- For the Chargers, MacLennan and Schmitt both went 2-3 with a double
SAINT JOSEPH'S 9, COLBY-SAWYER 2:
St. Joe's jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the bottom of the first, when Wilhelm led off with a triple to center and scored on a wild pitch and junior first baseman Matt Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) deposited a two-run jack beyond the left field wall.
Stephens made it a 4-0 game when he led off the second with a solo blast – his second tater of the year – and the hosts countered single runs scored by Colby-Sawyer in the third and fifth frames with two runs on a Dawson Gundlah (York, Maine) two-batter in the fifth and three runs on three hits – including another Thibault long ball – in the bottom of the seventh.
ON THE MOUND:
SJC grad starter Matthew Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) scattered eight hits over seven strong innings while allowing two runs and fanning three batters to improve to 4-2 on the season. Relievers Brendan McCaffrey (Warwick, R.I.), Hugh Barrett (Durham, Conn.), and Thibault combined to strike out three batters in the final two frames.
Colby-Sawyer freshman starter Marshall Donahue (Montpelier, Vt.) took the loss and falls to 0-3 after giving up four runs on six hits in one-plus innings of work. Freshman Justin Powers (Peabody, Mass.) allowed two runs on two hits with a pair of K's in four innings of relief while Erik Rohs (Lovettsville, Va.) yielded three runs (two earned) on four hits with two strikeouts in two innings and first-year Will Carpenter (Medfield, Mass.) whiffed a pair in a scoreless eighth inning.
OFF THE BAT:
- For St. Joe's, Thibault went 2-5 with two runs, a pair of homers, and three RBI, Stephens was 2-4 with two runs and a solo jack, and Wilhelm and Miles notched two hits apiece
- For the Chargers, Schmitt was 2-4 with two runs and a double
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-0 all-time versus Colby-Sawyer College.
SENIOR MOMENT:
Prior to the start of the first game the SJC baseball program held a brief ceremony to honor the team's five seniors: Dube, Jalbert, Miles, Stanton, and Sean McDonough (Concord, N.H.). The players' parents and close family members joined the team on the field for photos and a brief statement.
NEXT!
The Monks are back in action on Thursday when they host UMaine-Farmington in a non-conference doubleheader set to start at 3:00 PM.
Tomorrow's GNAC doubleheader at Johnson & Wales has been postponed due to incoming rain. A makeup date has yet to be announced.
