BOSTON, Mass. - #24 Wheaton College (28-10) scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh to break a 2-2 tie and eventually defeat Saint Joseph's College (32-11), 9-3, in the opening round of the 2019 UMass.-Boston NCAA Regional at Monan Park on Friday afternoon.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls into the losers' bracket in the four-team regional and will take on Baruch College (17-19) in an elimination game at Monan Park tomorrow at 11:00 AM. Baruch suffered a 15-1 setback at the hands of the host-Beacons in today's first contest.
Wheaton and UMass.-Boston will face off in a winners' bracket game tomorrow at 2:30 PM.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
SJC senior starter Grayson Jennings (Mililani, Hawaii) entered the bottom of the seventh having retired eight-consecutive Wheaton hitters, but quickly ran into trouble with a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles, loading the bases with Lyons and nobody out. Up next was freshman shortstop Stephen Quigley (Halifax, Mass.), who broke the 2-2 stalemate with a two-run base hit to right field.
Sophomore center fielder Brody Ashley (Strafford, N.H.) followed with an RBI double to right, with a second run scoring on an outfield throwing error, and promptly scored on a Conor Gammond (Spring Lake, N.J.) sac fly.
Freshman designated hitter Zach Demattio (North Attleboro, Mass.) capped the six-run seventh with a run-scoring single up the middle.
St. Joe's managed to score a run off a Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.) single in the top of the ninth, but stranded a pair of runners in both the eighth and the ninth – and 10 in the game overall.
The Lyons scored first when Ashley sprinted home on a Gammond single to right-center in the bottom of the third, but the Monks took the lead in the top of the fourth, when senior catcher Greg Emanuelson (Hudson, N.H.) notched an RBI single and later crossed home plate on a Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.) sacrifice fly.
Wheaton tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when senior Jacob Studley (Barrington, R.I.) singled up the middle and later scored on a wild pitch.
ON THE MOUND:
Jennings took the loss and falls to 4-2 on the season after allowing eight runs off 11 hits and two walks with six K's over 6.2 innings and freshman Johnathan Flynn (Holden, Mass.) gave up a run off a hit with one strikeout in 1.1 innings of relief.
Wheaton freshman starter Griffin Young (Dover, N.H.) improves to 6-1 after yielding two runs off six hits and three free passes with eight punch-outs over seven strong frames. Gavin Reily (Bridgewater, Mass.) and Patrick Arter (Lakeville, Mass.) tossed an inning apiece in relief.
OFF THE BAT:
- Emanuelson was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI
- Junior Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) went 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored
- Senior first baseman Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) reached base three times with a single and two walks and also dropped down a sac bunt
- For Wheaton, Quigley was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBI while Bryant Salkind (Rochester, Mass.) and Willy Boyd (Orleans, Mass.) added two hits apiece
