IMAGE COURTESY OF ROBYN AYLWARD - BLUE EGG IMAGES
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (9-5) held off Lyndon State College (4-10), 5-4, in a non-conference baseball contest at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Monks have now won six consecutive games.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After being held to just one baserunner in the first two innings, the Monks struck for three runs off five hits – all with two outs - in the third, when junior shortstop Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.) roped an RBI double and scored on a Chris Gerossie (Chester, N.H.) base hit and sophomore Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) posted a run-scoring single.
Saint Joseph's extended the lead to 4-0 in the fifth, when freshman second baseman Dalton Quinn (Lowell, Mass.) led off with a walk and eventually scored on a well-executed safety squeeze by Murphy.
Lyndon State found the board in the top of the seventh, as junior Zack Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.) plated a run with a single and came around to score when senior Ryan Cordeiro (Rollinsford, N.H.) singled to right.
The Monks scored an important insurance run in the bottom of the seventh, when sophomore third baseman Will Martin (Arlington, Mass.) doubled and scored when Murphy reached on an infield error, making it a 5-2 game.
The Hornets tightened the collar with a run in the eighth, as sophomore Codi Smith (Hartford, Vt.) singled up the middle and later scored on a bobbled ball in the infield. Lyndon State worked the bases loaded, but senior southpaw Josh Partridge (Deerfield, N.H.) induced an inning-ending ground ball.
In the top of the ninth, the Hornets made things interesting with a run off two hits and had the tying run 90 feet from home plate with two out, but Partridge fanned junior Ben Rollins (Lincolnville, Maine) to end the game.
ON THE MOUND – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Sophomore Matt Demma (Worcester, Mass.) picked up his first win of the season after tossing six shutout innings while allowing five hits and striking out six
- Junior Grayson Jennings (Mililani, Hawaii), sophomore Roderick Maynard (Baldwin, Maine), and senior Marc Poirier (Lunenburg, Mass.) combined to allow three runs off three hits and a walk in one inning of relief
- Partridge picked up his second save in as many days after yielding an unearned run off two hits with three K's in two innings
ON THE MOUND – LYNDON STATE:
- Junior starter James Mundy (Brentwood, N.H.) falls to 1-3 on the season after allowing four runs off seven hits with four K's in five innings
- Junior Jake Jourdain (Beckett, Mass.) and senior Andrew Whalen (Cumberland, R.I.) combined to allow an unearned run off one hit with three punch-outs in three frames of relief
OFF THE BAT – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Junior right fielder Jared Gagne (Dover, N.H.) was 2-3 with a run and a stolen base and was the Monks' only repeat-hitter in the victory
- Murphy was 1-3 with a run, a double, and two RBI
OFF THE BAT – LYNDON STATE:
- Smith was 2-5 with two runs scored
- Cordeiro went 2-5 with an RBI
- Johnson – the brother of SJC freshman infielder Luke Johnson – was 2-5 with a run, a stolen base, and an RBI
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 40-6 in the history of the series with Lyndon State College and has now defeated the Hornets in 15 consecutive meetings dating back to the 1998 campaign. Prior to this afternoon, these two teams had not met on the diamond since April 19th, 2005, when the Monks swept the Hornets with 11-1 and 14-0 triumphs at Mahaney Diamond.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host UMaine-Farmington in a non-conference twinbill on Monday. First pitch for the opener is slated for 1:00 PM.
#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.
