Standish, ME- For the first time in the 2007
season, the St. Joseph's College baseball team lost both ends of a
doubleheader. The Suffolk University Rams won a pair of games on
Thursday at Mahaney Diamond, 8-6 and 6-4. The Monks have played
twelve doubleheaders on the year, sweeping six, splitting five and
now suffering a sweep at the hands of the Rams.
Suffolk Junior Steve Durant (Malden, ME) went the distance in game
one to earn the victory. With the game scoreless through the first
three innings, Suffolk used 2 hits and a Monks error to plate 2
runs.
In the bottom of the inning, the Royal Blue mounted a 3-run rally
to take the lead. Senior Keil Martin (Saco, ME)
led off with a double before advancing to third on a single by
shortstop Luke Enman (Milan, NH). Martin came in
to score on an RBI groundout to shortstop by centerfielder
Dustin Spiller (Gorham, ME). After a walk to first
baseman Ben Grant-Roy (Biddeford, ME) rookie
catcher Travis Adams (Saco, ME) delivered an RBI
single to plate Enman. Grant-Roy scored the final run of the frame
when senior DH Chris Doughty (Windham, ME) reached
on an error.
In the top of the sixth, Suffolk used a pair of two-run homers to
jump out to a 6-3 advantage. Junior Greg DiMarco (Newton, MA)
connected for his second homer of the year and then freshman Tom
Kelly (Milton, ME) hit his first collegiate homerun. Both blasts
came at the expense of Monks reliever Cole Filosa
(Milford, MA).
In the seventh, the Rams added two insurance runs off of Monks
reliever Andy Pooler (Southwest Harbor, ME).
Suffolk used 4 hits and a Royal Blue error to expand their lead to
8-3. In the home half of the seventh, the Monks refused to go
quietly. Doughty started things off with a double to left, followed
by a Brian Schools (Gorham, ME) single. Doughty
came in to score on an RBI groundout by Wade
Oliver (Owl's Head, ME). Schools came in to score when
Luke Enman's hard-liner to right field was mishandled. After a walk
to Spiller, third baseman Mark Clapp (Blue Hill,
ME) delivered an RBI single, scoring Enman and cutting the lead to
8-6. The rally could go no further however, as Durant was able to
strike Grant-Roy out to end the game.
In game two, the Monks jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning
before the Rams struck back to take a 2-1 advantage after two full
innings. After six complete innings, Suffolk held on to a 4-3
lead.
In the seventh inning, the Rams pushed their lead to 6-3 on the
strength of two hits and an error off of two St. Joe's relief
pitchers. In the bottom of the frame, the Monks again provided a
threat. Clapp opened the inning with a triple to the deepest part
of the ballpark in centerfield, then scored on a single by Luke
Enman to cut the lead to 6-4. Catcher Andrew Wood
(South Portland, ME) reached on a fielder's choice and leftfielder
Ricky Sarmento (Lowell, MA) drew a two-out walk.
Keil Martin hit a chopper to shortstop and hustled hard down the
line to make it a bang-bang play. Martin was ruled out ending the
Royal Blue comeback attempt.
On the day, the Monks used nine different pitchers. Filosa (1-1)
took the loss in game one and first-year RHP Craig
Woodbrey (Gorham, ME) suffered the loss in game two to run
his record to 1-1 on the year. Kyle Dorr (Berwick,
ME) was outstanding out of the Monks bullpen, tossing three perfect
innings in game two.
"A lot of guys got work in today, which is pretty important as we
move forward to the next phase of our season" commented head coach
Will Sanborn. "I wasn't very happy with our level of intensity
today, we need to play at a certain level every day to be
successful and today I just didn't see it."
With the losses, the Monks finish the regular season with a 30-10
mark. Suffolk finishes its regular season at 23-14.
The Monks will go on to represent the North Atlantic Conference in
the NCAA Division III New England Regional Tournament. Details for
the tournament have not yet been announced.