IMAGE COURTESY OF ROBYN AYLWARD - BLUE EGG IMAGES
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Saint Joseph's College (3-4) split a doubleheader with Emerson College (3-6) in RussMatt Central Florida Invitational baseball action on Friday afternoon. The Monks dropped the first game, 6-2, and snapped a four-game skid with a 4-2 triumph in the nightca
GAME ONE – Emerson 6, Saint Joseph's 2:
The Monks started off on the right foot, scoring a run off two hits in the first inning when junior center fielder Jared Gagne (Dover, N.H.) singled, stole second and third, and scored on a Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) base hit.
St. Joe's doubled the lead in the fourth, when junior first baseman Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) singled and trotted home on a triple off the bat of senior catcher Jacob White (Salem, N.H.).
Emerson took the lead in the fifth with three runs off two hits and a pair of SJC errors, as Joe Paladino (Bedminster, N.J.), Ryan McCahan (San Jose, Calif.), and Pablo Feldman (Mill Valley, Calif.) scored to put their team on top for good.
The Monks threatened in top of the sixth, but squandered a chance to reclaim the lead after loading the bases with two out. The Lions took advantage of a similar situation in the bottom of the sixth and added three insurance runs off two hits and another Saint Joseph's error.
For Emerson, the win over Saint Joseph's is the program's first in 13 contests.
ON THE MOUND:
Sophomore Luke Klenda (Yarmouth, Maine) pitched well but suffered the loss after allowing six runs (three earned) off six hits and two walks with four K's in five innings. Senior Marc Poirier (Lunenburg, Mass.) fanned a pair of batters in an inning of relief.
Junior Jake Mitchell (Monroe, Ohio) picked up the win for the Lions after yielding two runs off five hits over 5.2 innings while sophomore Jack Fox (Los Angeles, Calif.) earned his first save of the season after striking out three in 1.1 frames.
OFF THE BAT:
- Gravel went 2-3 with an RBI
- Gagne was 1-3 with a run and a pair of stolen bases
- White was 1-2 with an RBI and notched his first career triple
- Paladino went 2-2 with a pair of runs
GAME TWO – Saint Joseph's 4, Emerson 2:
The Monks produced all their offense in the top of the first when the Royal Blue knocked in four runs off three hits and an Emerson error. Junior shortstop Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.) plated Gagne – who reached on an error – with a single and later scored on a Gravel double. Junior catcher Anthony DiPrizio (Rochester, N.H.), who doubled, scored on a wild pitch and Gravel sprinted on a sac fly off the bat of junior Greg Emanuelson (Hudson, N.H.).
The four-run cushion remained until the top of the fourth, when the Lions scored a pair of runs without notching a hit with the help of three SJC errors, a balk, and a wild pitch.
ON THE MOUND:
Sophomore Simon Gonzalez (Peabody, Mass.) picked up his first win in his first collegiate start after tossing five innings of one-hit ball with a walk and a strikeout. Both of the Emerson runs were unearned. Sophomore Weston Bergeron (Lyman, Maine) worked a perfect sixth inning and junior Grayson Jennings (Mililani, Hawaii) earned his first NCAA save with one strikeout in a clean seventh frame.
Emerson sophomore starter Sam Knox (Sturbridge, Mass.) suffered the loss after allowing four runs (two earned) off four hits and a pair of walks with a pair of K's in 3.2 innings.
OFF THE BAT:
- DiPrizio went 2-2 with a run and a double
- Gravel was 1-3 with a run, a double, and an RBI
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's faces WPI in a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 9:00 AM.
#GOMONKS
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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 474-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.
