LaCasse hits 41st homerun of his career; two short of breaking all-time record
Standish, Maine- Jake Rodden hit a grand slam and Jerrett Shaffer pitched 2.1 scoreless innings as Saint Joseph's College (17-16) out slugged visiting Southern Maine (21-13) 11-7, in the first game of a doubleheader. The Huskies won the second game 6-2.
Rodden had two hits, none more important than the one-out grand slam, which proved to be the game winning homerun.
Trailing 7-4 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, Andy Exley got things started for the Monks. He singled to right-center field, and Nick Mirabello moved him to second base with a single of his own. Each runner advanced a base on a wild pitch from reliever Ryan Adams. Exley then scored on a RBI ground out by Derek McIntosh to score the Monks first run of the inning.
Jesse LaCasse then singled home Mirabello to even the score at 7-7. Ben Muniz then reached on an error by second baseman Andy Lang and Lucas Hannigan reached safely after Pat McDonough was called for catcher’s interference. A grand slam by Jake Rodden proved to be the game winning homerun as the Monks went ahead 11-7.
Hannigan and McIntosh gave the Monks a 2-0 lead with an RBI singles in the bottom of the first. A single by McIntosh plated Exley and Hannigan later plated McIntosh with his own RBI single.
Tyler Bryant then added another run in the second inning with his eighth double of the year, which plated Tyler Bryant. Saint Joseph's College added another run in the third inning thanks to a Jesse LaCasse home run, his eleventh of the year.
Southern Maine got on the board in the top half of the fourth with a Brian Marshall RBI single.
The Huskies then countered with six runs in the fifth highlighted by three-run jack by Adam Lemieux to tie the score at 4-4, and extended its lead to 7-4 with another three-run homerun from Brian Marshall.
Jerrett Shaffer, who came on with two outs in the top of the fifth inning, earned the win for the Monk, upping his record to 6-1 this season. Ryan Adams got the loss for the Huskies and fell to 1-1 on the season.
In game two, the Huskies jumped on the board early, scoring two runs in the second. Tip Fairchild hit a two-run single to score Drew Palmer and Brent Lemieux. The Huskies added to their lead with a two runs in the fourth and one run in the sixth. In the fourth inning, Palmer led off with a single, stole second, and Jon Melanson reached on a walk to put runners at second and first. After Palmer was thrown out at third after a Fairchild fielder’s choice, Colin Loveless ripped a two-run double to plate Fairchild and Melanson.
Saint Joseph's College added two runs in the sixth, and Southern Maine scored in the seventh to extend its lead to 6-2.
Charlie Buker allowed four runs on five hits in three-plus innings for the loss. Southern Maine starter Sam Handy worked six innings, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out two.
