GORHAM, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (9-9) blanked nationally-ranked University of Southern Maine (10-5), 5-0, in non-conference baseball action at Ed Flaherty Field on Wednesday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Six different SJC pitchers combined to hold the Huskies – ranked 11th in the latest D3baseball.com national poll – to just four hits (all singles) while the Monks racked up 14 hits and played flawless defense in a total team effort.
St. Joe's took the lead right out of the gates with a run off three hits in the top of the first inning, when first baseman Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) plated senior right fielder Dylan Fournier (South Windsor, Conn.) with a single to right-center.
Senior second baseman Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.) led off the top of the second with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored when senior center fielder Hunter Richardson (North Monmouth, Maine) doubled down the left field line.
The Monks extended their lead to 3-0 in the fourth after Richardson scored on a Fournier base hit to left field. Saint Joseph's effectively put the game out of reach with two runs off three hits and a USM error in the top of the eighth. Freshman Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) opened the frame with a single and later scored on a Richardson sac fly to center and sophomore catcher Jackson Stanton (Saugus, Mass.) singled and crossed the plate on an infield miscue to lift the visitors to a 5-0 cushion.
ON THE MOUND:
- Stephens was credited with the victory and improves to 2-0 on the season after tossing two innings of one-hit relief with three strikeouts
- Junior starter George Welch (Derry, N.H.) allowed two hits and two walks with a pair of punchouts over two frames
- Relievers Brian Berthiaume (New Boston, N.H.), Matt Thibault (Nashua, N.H.), Devan Harrison (Bourne, Mass.), and Jonathan Marchia (Chicopee, Mass.) combined to allow one hit and three walks with four K's over five scoreless innings
- Southern Maine starter Joshua Joy (Smithfield, Maine) falls to 1-2 on the season after allowing three runs off eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts in five innings; relievers Bryce Afthim (Windham, Maine), Colton Lawrence (Farmington, Maine) and Cody Braga (Middlebury, Mass.) combined to give up two runs (one earned) off six hits with five strikeouts in four frames
OFF THE BAT:
- Richardson was 3-3 with a run, a double, and two RBI
- Fournier, Gravel and Healey notched two hits apiece
- All nine SJC starters posted at least one hit in the triumph
- For USM, senior third baseman Andrew Hillier (Bangor, Maine) was 2-2 with a pair of walks
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
For the Monks, today's win over Southern Maine is the program's first since April 19th, 2015, when SJC topped USM by a 10-7 score at Larry Mahaney Diamond. The shutout win over the Huskies is the Monks' second in the 85-game history of the series and first since May 7th, 1977.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's kicks off Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday with a pair of games versus Lasell University at Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts. The first game of the doubleheader is slated to begin at 10:00 AM.
