STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (14-11, 4-2 GNAC) split a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader with Anna Maria College (10-6, 2-2 GNAC) at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Thursday evening. The AMCATS prevailed in the first game, 12-5, and the Monks rebounded to win the second contest by an 11-5 score.
GAME ONE – Anna Maria 12, Saint Joseph's 5
The Monks held a 4-0 lead after first baseman Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) doubled home senior right fielder Dylan Fournier (South Windsor, Conn.) in the bottom of the second, but the SJC bats went silent after the Healey two-bagger as two AMCAT pitchers held the hosts hitless over the final five frames.
In the meantime, the conference counterparts traded runs in the third and fourth innings with the Monks holding a 5-1 advantage before the wheels came off in the top of the fifth, when Anna Maria struck for six runs on three hits, including a two-run homer off the bat of senior Nick Genatossio (Sutton, Mass.), to secure a 7-5 lead.
The AMCATS put the game well out of reach by plating five runs off three hits and an SJC error in the top of the seventh.
Senior reliever Jonathan Marchia (Chicopee, Mass.) suffered the loss for the Monks and falls to 2-2 on the year after allowing two runs (Genatossio homer) in 2/3 of an inning. Freshman starting pitcher Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) threw well and gave up one run on four hits with one strikeout in three innings.
Anna Maria senior starter Jack Marzec (Northbridge, Mass.) worked through several bouts of wildness to earn the win and is 3-2 on the season after giving up five runs on four hits and seven walks with six K's over five frames. Freshman reliever Anthony Pingeton (Charlton, Mass.) earned his first career save after walking one in two hitless innings.
Senior second baseman Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.) walked three times and scored three runs and stole a base and Healey went 1-3 with a double, a run scored, and an RBI.
For the AMCATS, Genatossio was 3-3 with two runs, a homer, and two RBI and junior shortstop Kosta Drosidis (Holden, Mass.) went 2-3 with two runs and a pair of RBI.
GAME TWO – Saint Joseph's 11, Anna Maria 5
Trailing 3-0 going into the bottom of the second, St. Joe's proceeded to knot the game with three runs off three knocks and an Anna Maria miscue. Senior center fielder Hunter Richardson (North Monmouth, Maine) delivered the game-tying hit with a two-out single, scoring senior right fielder Kevin Aylward (East Bridgewater, Mass.).
The Monks took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Richardson doubled and scored on a Justin Juliano (Lynnfield, Mass.) single. Juliano then stole second and scored when the following batter, Johnson, reached on an infield error to make it a 7-5 game.
Saint Joseph's went on to score six runs off five hits and two AMCAT miscues in the bottom of the sixth, when Fournier, Juliano, and sophomore catcher Jonathan Dube (Rochester, N.H.) delivered RBI singles, Johnson posted a sacrifice fly, and left fielder Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) launched a two-run jack well beyond the left field wall.
Trailing 11-3 in the top of the seventh, the AMCATS showed some late life when Drosidis sent a pair of runs home with a bases-loaded single and two out, but the visitors would get no closer as freshman reliever Matt Thibeault (Nashua, N.H.) induced a game-ending groundout.
SJC junior starter Matt Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) improves to 2-0 on the year after giving up three runs on three hits with a strikeout over 4.1 innings. Junior Matt Poff (Pelham, N.H.) allowed a hit and fanned a pair in 1.2 innings of relief.
Anna Maria senior starter Fili Veras (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) yielded three runs off two hits with four strikeouts before leaving with an apparent injury after 1.2 innings and reliever Liam Cunningham (Northbridge, Mass.) took the loss after allowing two runs (one earned) off three hits and two walks with three K's in 2.1 frames.
Juliano paced the SJC offense by going 2-3 with two runs, two RBI, and a stolen base while Richardson was 2-2 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base, Healey went 1-3 with two runs and a double, and Gravel was 1-4 with the two-run homer.
Drosidis was the AMCATS' lone repeat hitter in the nightcap and went 2-4 with a double and two RBI in the setback.
With the split, Saint Joseph's is now 17-3 all-time versus Anna Maria College. Prior to the game one loss, the Monks had defeated the AMCATS in 12-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2013 campaign.
Saint Joseph's will host Rivier University in a GNAC doubleheader on Saturday at 12:00 PM.
