Harwich, Mass. - Despite holding an 11 to 10 advantage in hits, Saint Joe's (30-11) was unable to capitalize on runners in scoring position in several innings and dropped a 10-2 decision to Eastern Connecticut (35-10) and will face Williams College tomorrow at 9:30 am. Eastern will take on Western New England at 1:00 pm.
The Monks jumped on pitcher Shawn Gilblair, scoring a run off two hits in the opening frame and SO Wade Oliver (Owls Head, ME) singled and moved to second on a fielder's choice. SR Luke Enman (Enfield, NH) pushed him to third with a hit and Oliver went on to score after a sacrifice fly by JR Dustin Spiller (Gorham, ME).
The Warriors evened the score in the bottom of the inning after a single and an error put Ismael Bolorin on third and he went on to score on a wild pitch. In the fourth, Randy Re hit a two run shot over the left field fence to put Eastern Connecticut up 3-1 and Zack Thomas hit an RBI-single to make it 4-1. The Monks closed out the inning with a 6-4-3 double play.
St. Joe's threatened in the fifth after SR Chris Doughty (Windham, ME) singled and JR Brian Schools (Gorham, ME) moved him over with a bunt, but were unable to score. The SJC defense closed out the bottom of the frame with another 6-4-3 double play.
The Monks added two hits in the sixth but once again failed to score after hits by Spiller and SR Mark Clapp (Blue Hill, ME). In the bottom of the inning, Gilblair singled to center and Melvin Castillo drew a walk. Gilblair moved to third and the Monks turned another double play, 4-6-3. Matt Cooney was safe at first due to a throwing error and Gilblair scored to put the Warriors up 5-1. Cooney moved to second on a wild pitch but SR Sam Tupper (Yarmouth, ME) rebounded and closed out the inning with a strikeout.
St. Joe's added a run in the seventh after a double by Doughty but the Warriors plated five runs in the bottom of the stanza, including a 3-run homer by Gilblair. The blast prompted a pitching change and FR Kyle Dorr (Berwick, ME) surrendered a solo home run to Castillo to make it 10-2. Dorr allowed just one more hit and struck out one in the final inning.
Doughty, Clapp and Oliver had two hits apiece for St. Joe's.
