PORT CHARLOTTE , FL - St. Joe's used a nine-run 9th inning rally to defeat Olivet College (MI) 17-14 in a slugfest in the first game of the day. SR Dustin Spiller (Gorham, ME) and SO Ben Grant-Roy (Biddeford, ME) each tallied 2 hits and 3 RBI's in the win. The SJC offense clicked again with 20 hits in game two to defeat Misericordia (PA) 16-7. Grant-Roy was 4-5 and FY Eric LaBatte (Rochester, NH) recorded his first career home run in the win. FY Pitcher Chris Dion (Lawrence, MA) went the distance for the victory in his first start of the season. The Monks wrap up their southern swing with a 6-3 record.

GAME ONE VS OLIVET COLLEGE

The Monks led 7-4 after three innings of play, but the Comets took an 8-7 lead with a four-run 4th. St. Joe's managed to tie the game 8-8 in the top of the seventh inning, but Olivet fired back with 3 runs in the bottom of the inning to take an 11-8 lead. After a scoreless 8th inning, the Monks offense erupted for 9 runs in the top of the ninth inning to seal the SJC victory.

The Monks were led offensively by Luke Enman, who was 4-6 with 3 runs, a triple and an RBI. Brian Schools was 3-4 with 2 runs and an RBI and JR Wade Oliver (Owls Head, ME), Ben Grant-Roy and Dustin Spiller each collected two hits. Grant-Roy and Spiller both registered 3 RBI's in the victory. FY Todd Keneborus (Hollis Center, ME) recorded his first collegiate hit with a double in the second inning. SO Mike Burdin (Gardiner, ME) earned the win on the mound for St. Joe's and threw five innings in relief.

Olivet was led by FY Phil Sullens (Belleville, MI) who recorded three hits, including two doubles, and scored four runs. FY Brandon Goodman (Portage, MI) was 3-for-5 and scored four runs and notched 3 RBI's. JR pitcher Steven Oginsky (New Lothrop, MI) received the loss in relief.

GAME TWO VS MISERICORDIA UNIVERSITY

The St. Joe's offensive surge continued in the team's second game of the day in a 16-7 win over Misericordia University (PA). After trailing 4-0 in the second inning, the Monks scored 16 unanswered in the team's next six trips to the plate and sent home three or more runs in four different innings before allowing the Cougars to score 3 runs in the ninth. Starter Chris Dion threw a complete game in his first career start for the win and at one point retired 12 consecutive Cougar batters.

Offensively St. Joe's was led by Ben Grant-Roy, who was 4-5 with 2 runs, 2 RBI's and a double in the game. Brian Schools, Luke Enman and Eric LaBatte each collected three hits and Dustin Spiller had two hits, both doubles. Enman knocked home 3 runs and Wade Oliver, Spiller and LaBatte all tallied 2 RBI's in the victory. FY Chris Campbell (Rochester, NH) notched his first career hit with a single in the third inning and SO Nick Johnson (Yuma, AZ) recorded his first hit in a Monks uniform with a 2-RBI triple off the right field fence in the seventh inning.

For Misericordia, JR Mike Murphy (East Moriches, NY) was 2-5 with 3 RBI's and JR Chris Messa (Red Bank, NJ) was 2-5 with 2 RBI's. Starting pitcher JR Darrell Morgan (Levittown, PA) took the loss.

The Monks capped their spring break trip with four consecutive wins to finish the swing with a 6-3 record. St. Joe's scored 51 runs in the four game win-streak and recorded a .359 team batting average in the nine games. Luke Enman hit .500 (15-30) with 9 runs and 11 RBI's, Brian Schools hit .484 (15-31) with 8 runs, Dustin Spiller batted .444 (12-27) with 8 runs, 12 RBI's, 5 doubles and 2 triples and Ben Grant-Roy hit .387 (12-31) with 12 runs, 9 RBI's, 2 doubles and a home run during the trip. Overall, the Monks 1-5 batters hit .428 (65-152) and scored 48 runs during the week.

St. Joe's will next play on March 20th in Washington D.C. against Catholic University. The first game of the doubleheader begins at 1:00 PM. The Monks will then take on Salisbury University on March 22nd with the first game of the twinbill beginning at 12:00 PM.