MANSFIELD, CT – Second-seeded Saint Joseph's College (38-5, 14-2 GNAC) blanked #7 Bowdoin College (25-19, 8-4 NESCAC), 2-0, in the opening round of the NCAA DIII Baseball New England Regional Tournament on Wednesday evening.
With the result St. Joe's will play #3 Trinity College in a winner's bracket contest on Thursday night at 7:45 PM. Trinity bested #6 Southern Maine in a slugfest, 13-8, in an opening-round tilt earlier on Wednesday. Bowdoin will face Southern Maine in a loser's bracket game at 1:15 PM on Thursday.
Monks pitcher Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) and Polar Bears hurler Oliver Van Zant (Westport, Conn.) locked heads in a classic pitcher's duel featuring two of the elite pitchers in the New England region. Both righthanders went the distance, but Rafferty proved to be better on this night, as the junior fanned a career-high 13 batters while scattering seven hits and a walk in what was the third nine-inning complete-game shutout – two versus Bowdoin - of his career.
Van Zant, the two-time NESCAC Pitcher of the Year, nearly matched Rafferty – the 2012 GNAC Pitcher of the Year – pitch for pitch but experienced command issues at times as evidenced by three walks and four hit batsmen over eight otherwise strong frames. Bowdoin's ace allowed two earned runs off five hits while striking out six SJC batters and fell to 5-3 on the season with the setback.
With the winning decision, Rafferty improves to 10-0 on the year and becomes the first pitcher in program history to reach the double-digit victory total without suffering a loss. Only one other Monks pitcher – current Seattle Mariners reliever Charlie Furbush, who went 10-1 in 2006 – has tallied 10 wins in a season and Rafferty, now an incredible 21-1 over three collegiate seasons, sits in a tie with Brent Dan '01 for second all-time in pitching victories at St. Joe's. The Monks' career wins leader - Richard Flaherty '86 - notched 23 victories over four seasons.
The only runs of the evening were scored by the Monks when Dan Achorn (Bow, N.H.) strode to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the fifth. Dan Brown (Portland, Maine/Deering) and Sam Butts (Saco, Maine) reached with walks and both moved up a base on a Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine) bunt before Nate Martin (Chebeague Island, Maine) packed the bases by working another free pass. Achorn grounded to second base and the Polar Bears attempted to turn a double play, but the Monks' senior shortstop narrowly beat the throw at first as Butts – hustling all the way from second – followed Brown across the plate to provide the Royal Blue with a 2-0 advantage.
The two-run cushion proved to be more than enough for Rafferty, who allowed just three Bowdoin baserunners to reach scoring position during the entire game. The Polar Bears threatened with runners on first and third and one out in the top of the sixth, but Rafferty worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a harmless fly-out to centerfield.
With a runner on first and nobody out in the bottom of the sixth, Monks junior first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) connected on what appeared to be a two-run homer to left-center, but Bowdoin junior left fielder Tim McGarry (Kennett Square, Pa.) made a spectacular catch as he fell back onto the warning track to pull down the long fly ball for the first out of the inning.
In the top of the eighth, Bowdoin Head Coach Mike Connolly tapped Andrew Belmonte (Beverly, Mass.) to lead off the frame as a pinch hitter and the senior looked to spark his team with a line drive to the left-center gap on a hit that appeared to be a sure double. But Martin cut the ball off and fired a strike to Achorn, who tossed the ball to Chase for an easy out at second, effectively negating a Bowdoin rally.
Hoping to add an insurance run, the Monks were in position to do just that as Brown stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth. After fouling off several pitches, Monks' senior third baseman lofted a shallow fly ball to center and freshman catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.), who reached via base hit to start the inning, tagged up at third and was cut down at the plate by Beau Breton (Bedford, N.H.), who fired a strike to the plate from center.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 23-20-3 in the history of the series with Bowdoin College. The Polar Bears topped the Monks earlier this spring, notching a 9-4 victory over the Royal Blue at Larry Mahaney Diamond on April 9th.
