PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN BERTHIAUME '24
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (6-10) split a pair of one-run games with New England College (5-11) in a non-conference baseball doubleheader at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Sunday afternoon. The Monks began the blustery day with a 4-3 victory and the Pilgrims earned the equalizer with a 3-2 triumph.
Both games ended in an irregular fashion, as the first contest came to a close on a strikeout and batter's interference call with an NEC runner trying to steal second base and the nightcap closed out on a deep fly to center and an SJC runner being called out for leaving second base too early on a tag-up play.
SAINT JOSEPH'S 4, NEW ENGLAND 3:
The Monks put a three-spot on the board in the bottom of the first inning, when junior Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) plated freshman Jack Moltenbrey (East Longmeadow, Mass.) with an RBI single and junior Dawson Gundlah (York, Maine) knocked in a pair with a two-out double to center field.
The Pilgrims made it a 3-1 game with a run on two hits and an SJC error in the top of the second, when sophomore Brady Philibotte (Weare, N.H.) reached on an infield error and later scored on a Kyle Dobrie (Mastic, N.Y.) base hit.
In the bottom of the second, freshman shortstop Luke Doughty (York, Maine) led off with a walk and eventually scored on another Stephens single, making it a 4-1 contest.
New England tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, as Philibotte rapped an RBI single in the former and senior Luca Giallongo (Mt. Shasta, Calif.) notched a sac fly in the latter to make it a 4-3 game through five frames.
With one out in the top of the seventh, senior Patrick Hagerty (Stoughton, Mass.) reached with a single to left field, which prompted SJC Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 to remove starter Matthew Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) in favor of closer Luke Stephens. The junior reliever proceeded to retire Giallongo, who struck out swinging and interfered with SJC catcher Jonathan Dube (Rochester, N.H.), who attempted to throw out Hagerty on a stolen base attempt. After the umpires conferred, Hagerty was ruled out due to batter interference, effectively ending the game.
ON THE MOUND:
Bergeron improved to 2-1 on the season after allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts over 6.1 innings. Stephens picked up his fourth save of the season with one strikeout in 0.2 innings of work.
NEC starter Wyatt Cameron (Salisbury, Vt.) falls to 0-2 after giving up four runs off nine hits and three walks while fanning six batters across six innings.
OFF THE BAT:
For Saint Joseph's, Gundlah went 2-3 with a double and two RBI, Stephens was 2-4 with a pair of RBI, and freshman Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) doubled and went 2-4.
Philibotte was the lone repeat-hitter for NEC and was 2-3 with a run and an RBI.
NEW ENGLAND 3, SAINT JOSEPH'S 2:
The Monks grabbed a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, when sophomore Logan Dee (Laconia, N.H.) walked, stole second, and scored on a Stephens base hit to center.
The Pilgrims went on to put three runs on the board with four hits in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded and one out, senior Alex Perez (Leominster, Mass.) was hit by a pitch and the following batter, freshman Ryan Cote (Goffstown, N.H.), knocked in a pair with a single through the right side.
Saint Joseph's managed to make it a one-run game when junior Matt Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) lined a single up the middle with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth. The Monks would have almost certainly tied the game on the hit, but the line drive struck the infield umpire, and the play was called dead.
Wilhelm led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and, with one out tagged up and advanced to third on a deep fly ball to center hit by Dube. The Pilgrims appealed that the SJC runner left early on the tag and the infield umpire concurred to end the game.
ON THE MOUND:
SJC senior starter Samuel Jalbert (Mascouche, Que.) took the loss after yielding three runs on five hits and three walks with three K's in 3.1 innings. Freshman Padraig Mac Seain (Brookline, N.H.) was excellent in relief and tossed 3.1 one-hit frames while fanning five batters. Sophomore Hugh Barrett (Durham, Conn.) struck out the only batter he faced in the seventh.
NEC sophomore starter Austin Hazzard (Weare, N.H.) improved to 3-1 on the year after allowing two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in six innings. Senior closer Tim Krol (East Longmeadow, Mass.) earned his first save of the year with a one-hit seventh inning.
OFF THE BAT:
For St. Joe's, Wilhelm was 4-4 with a pair of doubles while Stephens and Thibault both went 1-3 with an RBI.
For NEC, Dobrie was 2-2 with a run scored and Cote went 1-2 with two RBI.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the split, Saint Joseph's is now 13-3 all-time versus New England College. The Pilgrims will join the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) next season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host Dean College in a GNAC doubleheader tomorrow with first pitch set for 1:00 PM.
