STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's (36-5, 14-2 GNAC) toppled Gordon College (14-24, 7-9 CCC), 10-3, in a non-conference baseball contest at Larry Mahaney Diamond on a rainy Tuesday night. Monks starting pitcher Nick Whittaker (Yarmouth, Maine) fanned 10 batters and allowed one run off two hits and a walk over five innings and improved to 6-0 on the year with the winning decision.
The visiting Fighting Scots grabbed their only lead of the night in the first inning when senior designated hitter Eric Wolak (Trumbull, Conn.) plated freshman shortstop John Brownell (Glastonbury, Conn.) with a double that short-hopped the right field fence. SJC junior first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) proceeded to put the Monks on top with a two-run single in the bottom of the first and the hosts tacked on four runs off three hits in the bottom of the third to seize control of the contest.
Gordon starting pitcher Colin Strapp (Philadelphia, Pa.) yielded six runs off six hits and three walks with one strikeout in 2.1 innings and was hit with the losing decision. Junior John Kanas (East Moriches, N.Y.) allowed four runs off three hits and five walks while fanning three in 4.1 innings while sophomore Cole Pooler (Orange, Calif.) and senior Robert Hinckley (Raynham, Mass.) combined to give up three hits and strike out three batters in 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
St. Joe's relievers Steve Carlberg (Dover, N.H.), Jimmy Kennedy (York, Maine), Sam Murray (Walpole, Mass.) and Kyle Neagle (Lisbon Falls, Maine) combined to work four innings while allowing two unearned runs off four hits, a walk, and a hit batsman with a pair of punch-outs.
Offensively for the Monks, sophomore third baseman Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine) went 3-5 with two runs, a double and an RBI and freshman catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) was 2-3 with three runs scored and a double. Freshman infielder Zach Gardiner (Westbrook, Maine) recorded his first NCAA hit, a two-run double to right-center, with two out in the bottom of the seventh, and sophomore infielder Shayne Curtis (Gray, Maine) also notched his first collegiate hit with a run-scoring single to left in the seventh.
Junior third baseman Brian Harrington (Shoreham, N.Y.), who went 2-4 at the bat, was the lone repeat-hitter for the Fighting Scots.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 11-1 in the history of the series with Gordon College. The Monks have now defeated the Fighting Scots in 10 consecutive meetings dating back to the 1985 campaign.
St. Joe's returns to action on Wednesday, May 9th when the Monks host the Bobcats of Bates College in a single nine-inning contest slated to start at 1:00 PM. As the #5 seed, Gordon will face #4 Endicott College in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament on Thursday at 3:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.
