AUBURNDALE, FL – Saint Joseph's College (6-0), ranked ninth nationally in the most recent NCBWA/D3baseball.com Poll, defeated Keene State College (4-7), 13-6, at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex on Wednesday evening. Junior right fielder Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) went 3-5 with two runs, a triple and three RBI in the victory.
After spotting the Owls a run in the first and another in the third, the Monks assumed control of the game with seven runs off four hits and a Keene State error in the bottom of the fourth. Saint Joseph's plated two more in the fifth to gain a 9-2 advantage and the sizeable cushion allowed junior starter Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.) to settle in, as the righthander allowed just one hit and a walk with four strikeouts over the next four frames.
The Owls showed they had some fight left in them by scoring four runs off six hits in the eighth and ninth innings combined, but the effort was too late as the Monks closed the door to improve to 6-0 on the young season.
In the top of the first, Gruntkosky started off with a punch-out and a lazy pop-up to first, but walked junior second baseman Nick Vita (Spofford, N.H.) and the free pass proved costly. The next hitter, freshman designated hitter Cody Dube (Windham, Maine), stroked a single to center and the ball was misplayed in the outfield, allowing Vita to score all the way from first.
Senior first baseman Greg Bates (Salem, N.H.) led off the top of the third with a double to deep right field and scored two batters later when Vita singled up the middle. Trailing 2-0, the damage could have been worse as Gruntkosky fanned Hartmann to cease the threat with a pair of Owls on the bases.
With only one hit through three innings off Keene State starter John Coughlin (Litchfield, N.H.), the Saint Joseph's hitters finally made the adjustments required to solve the senior righthander in the fourth. Junior third baseman Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass.) led off the frame and was plunked by an errant fastball, sophomore designated hitter Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) reached with a single to left and sophomore catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) walked to load the bases for senior first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.), who put the Monks on the board with a single through the right side. Lorenc followed and cleared the bases with a triple to deep left-center, lifting the Royal Blue to a 4-2 lead.
Lorenc later scored on a dropped third strike and throwing error and Lops plated Vigars - who reached on the aforementioned error - and senior left fielder Sam Butts (Saco, Maine) - who walked - with a sharply-hit single to right to make it a 7-2 game.
The Monks then added two in the fifth when senior second baseman Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine) and junior center fielder Louie Vigars (Stratham, N.H.) rapped singles with the bases loaded. Keene senior reliever Kyle Underwood (Campton, N.H.) worked his way out of further damage with the help of an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Markakis.
With one out in the seventh, senior shortstop David Nieves (York, Maine) reached on an error and moved to second on a passed ball. Up next was Chase, who singled up the middle to send his double-play partner sprinting across the plate and later scored on a Markakis double to deep left field, making it an 11-2 game in favor of the Monks. Two batters later, Coyne stroked a triple down the right field line, scoring Markakis and Vigars - who reached earlier via base on balls – to cap the Saint Joseph's scoring.
For the Monks, Lops went 3-5 with a run and two RBI, Coyne was 2-4 with a run, a double and two RBI, Chase added two hits in four trips with a run and a pair of RBI and Vigars went 2-4 with two runs and an RBI. Markakis doubled and scored twice and Butts added a pair of runs scored in the triumph.
On the mound, Gruntkosky improves to 2-0 on the season after allowing one earned run off six hits and three walks with nine strikeouts over seven innings. Senior righty Jimmy Kennedy (York, Maine) made his first appearance of the season and allowed three earned runs off six hits with four K's in two frames of relief.
For the Owls, Vita went 3-4 with three runs, a double and an RBI and Dube was 2-3 in the losing effort. Freshman catcher Ian Schoonmaker (Scotia, N.Y.), who entered the game in the seventh inning, was 1-2 with a pair of RBI in the setback.
Keene State employed five pitchers on the evening with Coughlin suffering the loss after yielding seven runs (five earned) off four hits and three walks with a pair of strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Dylan Collett (Altamont, N.Y.), Underwood, John Poissant (Manchester, N.H.) and Alex Fiste (Lynn, Mass.) combined to allow six runs off 10 hits and a pair of free passes in 4.1 innings of relief for the Owls.
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 9-6 in the history of the series with Keene State College and has now defeated the Owls in three-consecutive meetings. The Monks' scoring total is the most scored by either team in the 21-year history of the match-up. The winning margin also ranks as the largest posted by either squad in the 15 meetings between the New England Region programs.
St. Joe's has not started off a Spring Break trip with six straight wins since 2007 when the Royal Blue went 7-0 on a rain-shortened trip to Orlando.
Saint Joseph's continues southern-swing play tomorrow with a single contest versus Webster University in Winter Haven, Florida at 1:00 PM. Keene State will face Bowdoin College in a 12:00 PM start at South Florida Community College in Avon Park, Florida.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
