STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (10-7, 3-1 GNAC) handled Husson
University (13-10, 1-3 NAC), 8-4, in the Monks 2009 home opener at
Larry Mahaney Diamond on Wednesday. Kevin
Chamberlain '11 (Scarborough, ME) took a no-hitter
into the eighth inning and allowed two hits, two earned runs and
two walks with six strikeouts to earn his first collegiate victory.
The Monks rattled off 13 hits and Pat
Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) thumped his first long
ball of the year, a three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth
inning, in the triumph.
After sitting 21 straight, Chamberlain's no-hitter
bid came to an end in the eighth inning, when Eagles third baseman
Jake Arthurs '12 (Belfast, ME) led off with an infield single,
narrowly beating out Dan Achorn's
'12 (Bow, NH) throw from deep short. St. Joe's scored two runs in
the first inning, one in both the second and third, and four in the
sixth. Husson scored all four of their runs in the eighth, three
coming off a Nick Arthers '09 (Belfast, ME) home run with two
out.
St. Joe's led 2-0 after three hitters had stepped to the plate in
the bottom of the first. Wade
Oliver '09 (Owls Head, ME) led off the bottom of
the first by lacing a double to deep left center and #2 hitter
Chris Campbell '11 (Rochester,
NH) traded places with him to give the Monks a 1-0 lead. Catcher
Ian Lee '11 (Hampden, ME) singled
to send Campbell home and cap the first frame
scoring.
To start the second inning, Husson starter Ryan Arsenault '11
(Portland, ME) issued a walk to Todd
Keneborus '11 (Hollis Center, ME/Cheverus), who
moved to third when the next batter, Achorn,
singled up the middle. Keneborus scored on a
fielder's choice off the bat of Oliver to extend
the SJC lead to 3-0.
Arsenault found himself in trouble again in the third frame, but
managed to escape with minimal damage. Campbell
led off the inning with a single, Lee followed with a double and
Ben Grant-Roy '10 (Biddeford, ME) was hit by a
pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Campbell
scored on a passed ball before the bases were quickly reloaded with
Monks, as Arsenault plunked Eric
LaBatte '11 (Rochester, NH) after fanning
Moran. St. Joe's was unable to produce the big hit
to break the game open, however, as the Eagles' southpaw whiffed
Keneborus and induced a groundball from
Achorn to end the scoring threat with St. Joe's
up, 4-0.
Five zeroes were posted on the scoreboard before the Monks put up
four runs in the sixth to take an 8-0 lead. Second baseman
Mike Burdin '10 (Gardiner, ME)
singled, stole second, advanced to third on an
Oliver fly-out to center and scored on a fielder's
choice from Lee. Campbell, who
reached via base on balls, Lee and
Grant-Roy, who also walked, all scored on
Moran's blast to left-center to put the Royal Blue
up 8-0, and provide Chamberlain with more than
enough breathing room.
The SJC right-hander continued to look strong in the seventh and
seemed unfazed by the fact that he had held the Eagles, who just
yesterday notched 16 hits and throttled Bates College 13-1, without
a base knock through six innings. Chamberlain hit
Nick Arthers with a pitch to start the inning, but Jeff Miller '09
(Veazie, ME) flew out to left and Matt Archetti '12 (Chester, MA)
and Tom Crews '11 (Bangor, ME) both struck out to keep the no-no
intact.
Jake Arthers led off the bottom of the eighth inning by hitting a
grounder to Achorn's right at short. The rookie
infielder fielded the ball cleanly and made a strong throw to
Grant-Roy at first, but Arthers hustled down the
line and was ruled safe on a bang-bang play.
Chamberlain forced Husson second baseman to
pop-out to Campbell at second for the first out,
but left the game after Kyle Vanidestine '12 (Bangor, ME) lined a
single to left.
Chris Nanof '10 (Clinton, MA)
relieved Chamberlain and uncorked a wild pitch on
his third delivery to the plate, which send both Eagles runners
scrambling to the next base. Nanof struck out Husson shortstop
Ethan Guerrette '11 (Wales, ME) for the second out of the frame,
but the next hitter, Chris Maguire '11 (Bucksport, ME), singled
just past the reach of Campbell to plate the first
run for the visitors. Nick Arthurs followed with the three-run bomb
to left, closing out the game scoring with the Monks on top,
8-4.
Chamberlain, 1-1 in 2009, fell six outs shy of
tossing the third no-hitter in program history. Chris Holt
(1999-00) was the first Monks pitcher to record a no-no
when he defeated the University of Maine-Farmington 1-0 on April
11th, 1999. The last no-hitter was hurled by Matt Vasil
'95 when he shut down University of Maine-Presque Isle in
a 13-0 win on April 15th, 2005.
For St. Joe's, Oliver was 2-4 with a run and an
RBI, Campbell went 2-4 with two runs and an RBI
and Lee extended his multiple-hit streak to six
games, having gone 2-4 with a run and two RBI's in the victory.
Moran was 2-5 with the three-run blast and
Achorn went 2-4 to raise his season average to
.395 (15-38). SJC southpaw Chris
Dion '11 (Lawrence, MA) worked an inning in relief
and allowed one hit while fanning a pair of Eagles.
For Husson, Vanidestine, Maguire, Archetti and the Arthers
brothers, Nick and Jake, all had one hit apiece. Arsenault, now 1-3
on the season, surrendered eight earned runs and 10 hits while
walking and striking out five batters to take the loss. Righty
Nathan Adams '12 (Frankfort, ME) fanned four and allowed three hits
in 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.
Saint Joseph's will play host to GNAC foe Rivier College on
Saturday, April 4th with the first game of a twin bill beginning at
2:00 PM. Husson will host Lyndon State in a NAC doubleheader on
Saturday at 1:00 PM.
