STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (5-8) split a non-conference doubleheader with Bates College (1-1) at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Saturday afternoon. The Monks opened with a 5-4 triumph and suffered a 6-5 setback in the closing contest.
The twinbill essentially followed mirrored scripts, as the Monks rallied with three runs in the sixth inning to claim the opening triumph and the Bobcats, trailing 5-2 through four frames, plated four runs in the top of the fifth to salvage the split.
GAME ONE – Saint Joseph's 5, Bates 4
The Bobcats, playing in their first game of the season, scored on their first swing – first pitch, in fact – of the season when sophomore left fielder Tyler Attal (Los Angeles, Calif.) led off with a home run over the left field wall. The Monks countered immediately with a run off two hits in the bottom of the first as sophomore shortstop Zach Miles (Concord, N.H.) singled and scored on a triple from senior left fielder Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.).
Bates broke the stalemate with a run on two hits in the fourth when junior shortstop Kevin Lucey (Topsfield, Mass.) doubled home senior third baseman Zach Avila (San Francisco, Calif.) to make it a 2-1 game. The visitors proceeded to obtain a 4-1 lead with a pair of runs on three hits and a St. Joe's error in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Alex Ross (Ridgefield, Conn.) registered an RBI double to help his squad secure the three-run advantage.
The Monks' come-from-behind effort began in the bottom of the fifth when freshman first baseman Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) delivered an RBI single with two out and continued when senior pinch hitter Kevin Aylward (East Bridgewater, Mass.) led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer well beyond the left field fence.
St. Joe's tied the game four batters later when Miles singled home freshman pinch runner Ryan Tessier (Concord, N.H.) and Gravel provided what proved to be the game-winning hit with a double down the left field line, scoring senior Hunter Richardson (North Monmouth, Maine), who earlier reached base with an infield single.
ON THE MOUND:
- Freshman reliever Matt Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) earned the first victory of his NCAA career after tossing 1.1 hitless innings with one strikeout
- Senior closer Jonathan Marchia (Chicopee, Mass.) picked up his first save of the season – and 10th of his career – after fanning a pair in an inning of work
- Junior starter Matt Poff (Pelham, N.H.) did not factor into the decision after yielding four runs (three earned) off 10 hits with a pair of K's in 4.2 innings
- For Bates, junior reliever Braden Karess (Boxborough, Mass.) suffered the loss after allowing a run off three hits in 2/3 inning, senior starter Peter Schuldt (Winnetka, Ill.) fanned three and allowed a run on four hits and a walk, and freshman reliever Jack Potash (Weston, Conn.) yielded three runs off four hits and two walks with a pair of K's in 2.1 frames
OFF THE BAT:
- Gravel was 3-4 with a double, triple, and two RBI
- Miles went 3-4 with a run and an RBI
- Richardson added two hits and two runs in four at-bats
- For Bates, Christian Beal (Flossmoor, Ill.), Henry Jamieson (St. Simons Island, Ga.), and Avila registered two hits apiece
GAME TWO – Bates 6, Saint Joseph's 5
Bates struck early again in the nightcap as the visitors received a two-run double from sophomore Drew Fallon (Mansfield, Mass.) with two out in the top of the first.
Senior first baseman Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) doubled home Gravel in the bottom of the first to make it a 2-1 game and sophomore catcher Jackson Stanton (Saugus, Mass.) tied the game when he led off the bottom of the second with a solo home run off the scoreboard in left field. Aylward walked and later scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from Miles.
The Monks scored single runs in the third and fourth frames to claim a 5-2 cushion, as Stanton produced an RBI double in the former and Gravel notched a run-scoring single in the latter.
Unfortunately for the hosts the lead would not hold, as the Bobcats managed to plate four runs off five hits and an SJC error in the top of the fifth. Beal roped a two-run double and junior first baseman Bryan Gotti (Westwood, Mass.) belted a two-run home run to right field, making it a 6-5 game in favor of the Bobcats.
Saint Joseph's had an ideal opportunity to at least tie the game in the bottom of the sixth with two runners in scoring position and one out, but Bates freshman reliever Luke Linnehan (Hingham, Mass.) escaped unscathed to preserve his team's one-run lead.
ON THE MOUND:
- SJC junior starter Johnathan Flynn (Holden, Mass.) falls to 0-2 on the season after yielding six runs on 10 hits with a pair of strikeouts in 4.1 innings
- Relievers Brian Berthiaume (New Boston, N.H.), Devan Harrison (Bourne, Mass.) and Marchia combined to toss 2.2 scoreless innings while fanning five batters
- For Bates, Linnehan picked up the victory after giving up one run off three hits and a walk with three K's over four innings; junior starter Grant Iuliano (Waltham, Mass.) gave up four runs (three earned) off six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in three frames
OFF THE BAT:
- Stanton was 2-3 with a run, a double, a home run, and two RBI
- Gravel went 2-4 with a run and an RBI
- For Bates, Beal was 3-4 with two runs, a stolen base, and two RBI, Fallon went 2-4 with a two-run double, and Attal added two hits and two runs in four at-bats
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the split Saint Joseph's is now 36-15 all-time versus Bates College. The Monks and Bobcats last met on the diamond on April 30th, 2018 when SJC registered a 13-6 victory at Larry Mahaney Diamond.
NEXT!
The Monks are scheduled to host Eastern Nazarene College in a single nine-inning game on Tuesday at 4:00 PM.
