NASHUA, NH - Saint Joseph's College (25-13, 8-6 GNAC) defeated
top seed Suffolk University (25-10, 14-0 GNAC), 6-5, in the GNAC
Championship game on Sunday at Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH. The
conference title secures a bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament, the
Monks' third consecutive berth, which takes place May 14-17th.
Starting pitcher SO Pat Moran
(Winterport, ME) allowed 5 hits and struck out 4 in 7.2 strong
innings against the Rams to pick up his fourth win and SO
Andrew Keirstead (Westbrook, ME)
tossed 1.1 innings in relief to notch his second save of the
season.
SR Luke Enman (Milan, NH), SO
Ben Grant-Roy (Biddeford, ME) and
FY Todd Keneborus (Hollis Center,
ME) all had two hits apiece and Enman hit his
seventh home run of the year, a solo shot in the eighth, in the
victory.
Enman, Moran and JR
Wade Oliver (Owls Head, ME), who
made a handful of highlight-reel plays over the weekend, were all
named to the All-Tournament Team and Keirstead was
named the Tournament Most Valuable Player.
The Monks took advantage of two Suffolk errors in the first inning
to stake an early 2-0 lead and Grant-Roy singled
home two runs in the second to give the Royal Blue a 4-0
advantage.
Suffolk used a pair of SJC miscues in the fifth to score twice and
decrease the Monks' lead to 4-2.
St. Joe's sophomore catcher and 2008 GNAC Rookie of the Year
Ian Lee (Hampden, ME) led off the
bottom of the fifth by lacing a ground-rule double down the left
field line. With one out, Keneborus hit a single
to move Lee to third and SO Mike
Burdin (Gardiner, ME) hit a sac fly to center
field off Rams reliever SR Steve Durant (Malden, MA) to give the
Monks a 5-2 lead.
The Rams refused to accept elimination without a fight and made it
a one-run game in the eighth when JR Keith Carter (Newburyport, MA)
hit a two-run home run to deep left off Moran to
make the score 5-4, St. Joe's.
2008 GNAC Player of the Year Luke
Enman provided the Monks with an insurance run in
the bottom of the eighth with an opposite field solo blast. The run
proved to be an important one as SR Greg DiMarco (Newton, MA) hit a
solo shot off SJC reliever Andrew
Keirstead with one out in the top of the ninth to
again make it a one-run contest. The crafty southpaw whiffed the
next Suffolk batter and induced a groundout for the final out of
the game.
The conference title is the fourth straight for the Monks, as the
Royal Blue captured three consecutive North Atlantic Conference
titles (2005-07) prior to joining the GNAC this season.
Starting pitcher JR Tim Doyle (Milton, MA) takes the loss for the
Rams and allowed 4 hits and 4 runs, 2 earned, in 1.2 innings.
Carter was 2-4 with 2 RBI's in the Suffolk setback.
The Monks will host Little East opponent Keene State College (NH)
on Tuesday, April 29th in a single game that is scheduled to begin
at 4:00 PM.
Monks Crowned 2008 GNAC Champions
Posted: Apr 27, 2008
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