STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's (18-9, 8-2 GNAC) won both ends of a Great Northeast Athletic (GNAC) baseball doubleheader with Suffolk University (21-5, 10-2 GNAC) at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Sunday afternoon. The Monks toppled the Rams by a 12-3 score in the opener and completed the sweep with a 7-1 triumph in the nightcap.
Saint Joseph's posted 27 hits with 14 of the extra-base variety in the sweep and rapped 15 hits in the opening contest. At times lacking the big hit in a recent offensive dry spell, the Monks broke out by scoring 12 runs with two-outs in the two games combined against the Rams, who are currently ranked third in New England according to the latest NEIBA Weekly Poll.
Senior pitchers Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) and Tyler Laverriere (Biddeford, Maine) both notched complete-game efforts and combined to hold a vaunted Suffolk lineup to three earned runs off 10 hits and one walk while fanning 16 in the twinbill.
Senior second baseman Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine) led the Monks' offensive breakout by going 7-8 with four runs, three doubles, three triples, a home run and five RBI in the two games while senior first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) was 4-5 with four runs, a double, two homers and seven RBI in the sweep. Chase broke the program's single-game triples record and Pratt launched a grand-slam jack in the opening contest.
Rafferty picked up his third win of the season after yielding three runs off five hits and a walk with eight K's in seven frames and broke the Monks' career pitching victories record with the result. Rafferty is now 24-3 in his career and surpassed Richard Flaherty '86 to claim a wins record that stood for 27 years.
GAME ONE
The Monks came out of the gates swinging, as the Royal Blue registered four runs off two hits and a Suffolk miscue in the bottom of the first. Freshman shortstop Zack Graham (Marlborough, Mass.) reached with a single while Pratt walked and junior right fielder Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two out for Chase, who cleared the bases with a double to right field. Chase proceeded to steal third and scored on a throwing error by Suffolk catcher JC Collette (Amesbury, Mass.) to lift the hosts to an early 4-0 lead.
St. Joe's tacked on the fifth run in the second inning when junior catcher Willie Brown (Fayette, Maine) led off with a single, moved up 90 feet on a Sam Butts (Saco, Maine) sac bunt and scored on a two-out two-bagger from Graham.
Pratt led off the bottom of the third with a line-drive jack over the left field wall for his third longball of the season and Chase tripled and scored on a wild pitch to make it a 7-0 game through three frames.
Suffolk, which entered the day on an eight-game winning streak, got on the board with two runs in the top of the fourth, as junior first baseman Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) worked a walk and senior left fielder Chris Stanley (Placentia, Calif.) reached via infield single to set the stage for Collette, who sent both runners home with a double to left.
But the Monks would get the two runs back and then some in the bottom of the frame, as the Royal Blue exploded for five runs off six hits to claim a 12-2 cushion. Butts, Graham and sophomore designated hitter Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) all singled to load the bases for Pratt, who sent a 1-1 offering from Rams' reliever Dan Shields (Haverhill, Mass.) beyond the left field wall for a grand slam tater and Chase- who reached with his second triple of the day – scored on an Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass.) single to put the hosts ahead by 10 after four innings.
In the top of the sixth, Cintolo led off and launched a line drive into the visitors' bullpen for his first homer of the season to account for the 12-3 final.
For the Monks, Chase was 4-4 with three runs, a double, three triples, three RBI and a stolen base, Pratt went 2-2 with three runs, two taters and five RBI, Graham was a perfect 4-4 with two runs, a double and an RBI and Coyne added two hits in four trips with a double and a run scored.
For the Rams, Collette was 1-3 with a double and a pair of RBI and Cintolo went 1-2 with two runs scored and a home run. Sophomore starting pitcher Josh Desai (Shrewsbury, Mass.) was hit with his second setback of the season after yielding seven runs (six earned) off six hits and a walk and Shields surrendered five runs off six hits with a strikeout in 1.1 innings of work. Sophomore southpaw Mike Masulli (Prospect, Conn.) was effective in a mop-up role and tossed two scoreless frames while allowing three hits and two free passes with three K's for the visitors.
GAME TWO
Hoping to at least salvage a split, the Rams scored first in the nightcap when senior right fielder Mike Cunningham (Syosset, N.Y.) singled to left and later sprinted home on an infield error in the top of the second.
The Monks went on to negate the slim margin in the bottom of the second inning when Chase belted his first home run of the season, a two-run shot, over the scoreboard in left field. Lorenc, who singled through the left side with one out, scored on the two-run blast.
With Laverriere dealing, Saint Joseph's tacked on two runs in the third and three runs in the fourth to account for the 7-1 final. With two out in the third, Pratt doubled and scored on the Monks' fourth tater of the day – a Lorenc big fly to left – while Pratt knocked in two with a bases-loaded single and Lorenc produced an RBI base hit in the fourth to make it a six-run game.
For the hosts, Lorenc went 4-4 with two runs, a home run and three RBI, Chase was 3-4 with a run, two doubles, a homer and two RBI and Pratt went 2-3 with a run, a double and a pair of RBI.
Laverriere improved to 4-2 on the season with a dominant effort, fanning eight while allowing one unearned run off five hits in seven innings.
Cunningham was the lone repeat-hitter for the visitors and was 2-3 with a run scored in a losing effort. Sophomore starter Joe Saia (Everett, Mass.) falls to 3-1 on the season after giving up four runs on six hits and a walk in 2.2 innings while sophomore reliever Cal Carroll (Methuen, Mass.) allowed three runs off five hits and three walks with a strikeout in 2.1 frames. Freshman TJ Fearon (Colchester, Conn.) closed out the game for Suffolk and allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless sixth inning.
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 19-12 in the history of the series with Suffolk University. The Monks have now defeated the Rams in eight consecutive meetings dating back to the 2011 campaign.
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Monday when the team travels to Albertus Magnus College for a GNAC doubleheader slated to start at 4:00 PM. Suffolk plays at Endicott College on Tuesday in a single nine-inning game starting at 3:30 PM.
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.
