WEYMOUTH, Mass. – Senior outfielder Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) went 5-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI to help Saint Joseph's College (1-0) defeat Eastern Nazarene College (0-2), 11-7, in what was the Monks' 2021 season-opener on Wednesday afternoon at Libby Field.
St. Joe's, the first NCAA DIII baseball team from Maine to play this spring, featured a lineup completely composed of seniors in today's triumph and the veterans set the tone by notching 17 hits on the afternoon. Originally scheduled to be a nine-inning affair, the game was called after eight innings due to a scheduling conflict at the field.
Saint Joseph's is back in action Friday with a pair of games at Fisher College. First pitch for the opener is set for 3:00 PM.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks grabbed an early lead when Gravel plated Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) and Dylan Fournier (South Windsor, Conn.) in the top of the first and the Royal Blue added three runs off five hits and an Eastern Nazarene error in the third, when seniors Kevin Aylward (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Justin Juliano (Lynnfield, Mass.) roped RBI singles.
Fournier led off the top of the fourth with a double to left and scored two batters later when senior catcher Matthew Martinello (Woodbridge, Conn.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center, making it a 6-0 game.
Saint Joseph's tacked on three more runs off a pair of hits in the fifth when Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.) walked and later scored on a wild pitch, Juliano singled and crossed the plate on a Fournier groundout, and Healey plated Hunter Richardson (Monmouth, Maine) with a single up the middle.
Leading 9-0 going into the bottom of the fifth, the Monks seemed to be on their way to a lopsided victory. Junior starter George Welch (Derry, N.H.) and junior Matt Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) held the Lions hitless through four frames as the hosts featured just two baserunners in four trips to the plate.
But a simple win was not in the cards, as Eastern Nazarene managed to score six runs – all with two out - off just one hit in the bottom of the fifth when the Monks' pitchers had trouble finding the strike zone and thus issued four walks and plunked a pair of batters. With two out and the bases loaded, junior Shane McNamara (Londonderry, N.H.) poked a two-run single through the right side for the Lions' first hit of the afternoon.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Lions made it a two-run (9-7) game when junior catcher Jaime Roldan (Boston, Mass.) notched an RBI single. St. Joe's proceeded to add a pair of insurance runs in the top of the eighth when Aylward belted an RBI triple to center and later scored on a wild pitch to account for the 11-7 final.
ON THE MOUND:
- Welch picked up the win after fanning three and walking one in two innings
- Bergeron allowed five runs off one hit and three walks with a pair of K's in 2.2 innings
- Junior Devan Harrison (Bourne, Mass.) was efficient in relief, allowing a run off three hits with a pair of punchouts in 2.1 innings
- Senior Jonathan Marchia (Chicopee, Mass.) tossed a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts
- For Eastern Nazarene, sophomore starter Francis Ferguson (Jefferson, Mass.) took the loss after allowing six runs (five earned) off 10 hits with three K's over four innings while relievers Jon Tessier (Coronado, Calif.), Morgan Weast (Cincinnati, Ohio), and Brenndan Rogers (Hanson, Mass.) combined to yield five runs off seven hits and two talks with five strikeouts in four frames
OFF THE BAT:
- Gravel's five-hit effort was the 11th in SJC baseball history and first since Taylor Black '17 rapped five hits versus Wisconsin-Stevens Point on March 25th, 2016
- Aylward was 3-5 with a run, a triple and two RBI
- Healey, Johnson, Martinello, and Juliano contributed two hits apiece
- For the Lions, McNamara and Roldan registered two RBI's apiece; the hosts did not feature a repeat-hitter in the setback
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 15-0 all-time versus Eastern Nazarene College. These two teams last met on March 13th, 1997 (4-2 win, SJC).
