WORCESTER, Mass. – Clark University (6-2) swept Saint Joseph's College (5-6) in a non-conference baseball doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. The Cougars picked up a 5-1 win in the opener and walked off with a 4-3 triumph in the nightcap.
GAME 1:
Clark essentially put the first game to rest with four runs in the bottom of the second, when second baseman Matthew Kalinak plated left fielder Ryan Caulfield with a single and scored two batters later when third baseman Anthony Keefe belted a three-run homer. For Keefe, the home run was the first of his college career and just the second hit of the season overall.
St. Joe's cut the Clark lead to 4-1 in the top of the third, when grad student Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) knocked in senior third baseman Ronan Chisholm (North Chatham, Mass.) with a bases-loaded single.
Clark starting pitcher Benjamin Spencer held the Monks in check for the remainder of the game and center fielder Carter Doran tripled and sprinted home on a wild pitch in the fifth to account for the 5-1 final.
The Monks had plenty of chances to score more runs but stranded 10 runners in the loss. The Cougars left only three runners on base in the winning effort.
ON THE MOUND:
- Sophomore starter Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) suffered the setback after allowing four runs on six hits with three K's in four innings
- Junior reliever Samuel Jalbert (Mascouche, Que.) yielded one run off one hit and fanned three in two innings of work
- For Clark, Spencer worked his way out of several jams and allowed one unearned run off seven hits and three walks with nine strikeouts over seven frames
OFF THE BAT:
- Grad student Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) was 2-for-4 with a double
- Gravel went 2-for-4 with an RBI
- For Clark, Caulfield was the hosts' lone repeat-hitter after going 2-for-2 in the opener
GAME 2:
The New England rivals traded leads several times with the Cougars clinching the win – and the sweep – with a walk-off double off the bat of designated hitter Connor Rulnick in the bottom of the seventh.
The Monks scored two of their runs on two swings, as freshman Jordan Valentino (Simsbury, Conn.) and Gravel launched solo home runs in the second and fourth innings, respectively.
Trailing 3-2 in the top of the fifth, freshman third baseman Michael Wearne (Ellington, Conn.) tied the game with a one-out single.
The Cougars' infield killed several SJC rallies, as the hosts notched double plays in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
ON THE MOUND:
- Senior reliever Devan Harrison (Pocasset, Mass.) was hit with the loss after allowing a run on four hits with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings
- Jalbert closed out the first game and opened the second with one inning of one-hit ball and one strikeout
- Senior Matt Poff (Pelham, N.H.) gave up three runs on five hits over four frames
- Clark starter Maxwell Gitlin went the distance and yielded three runs on nine hits with six punch-outs in seven frames
OFF THE BAT:
- Junior shortstop Zach Miles (Concord, N.H.) went 3-for-3 with a run scored
- Gravel was 2-for-3 with a solo home run
- For Clark, Caulfield, Trevor Ham, and Samuel Farrell posted two hits apiece
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host Endicott College on Tuesday in a single nine-inning game slated to start at 4:00 PM.
