WORCESTER, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College (11-15) outlasted Clark University (13-13), 15-14, in a non-conference baseball contest on Thursday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In a slugfest that took just under four hours to complete, the Monks and Cougars combined to score 29 runs on 28 hits, 23 walks, and six hit batsmen while deploying a total of 15 different pitchers.
The Monks scored 14 of their 15 runs during the first four innings. In the top of the first, freshman Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) base hit. After the Cougars sent home three in the bottom of the first, the visitors put six on the board off four hits – including a Jackson Stanton (Saugus, Mass.) three-run homer – in the second to earn a 7-3 lead.
In the top of the third, Wilhelm doubled home Michael Wearne (Ellington, Conn.) and later scored on a wild pitch to extend the SJC lead to 9-3. Clark countered with three runs in the bottom of the third, but the Monks ballooned their cushion to 14-6 with five runs off four hits in the top of the fourth, when Wilhelm notched an RBI single and senior Jonathan Dube (Rochester, N.H.) roped a two-run base hit.
Trailing by eight through three and a half frames, the Cougars chipped away at the SJC advantage with a run in the fourth, two in the sixth, and a run in the seventh to make it a 14-10 game. The Monks tacked on an insurance run – which proved to be necessary – in the top of the eighth when sophomore Logan Dee (Laconia, N.H.) walked and sprinted home on a wild pitch.
Clark tightened the collar with three runs in the bottom of the eighth, but the damage could have been worse as sophomore reliever Hugh Barrett (Durham, Conn.) worked out of a bases loaded jam with a harmless fly ball to right field. The Cougars threatened again in the bottom of the ninth and made it a one-run game when senior Connor Rulnick, who reached on a double, scored on a wild pitch. With a runner on second and one out, junior reliever Matt Thibault (Nashua, N.H.) closed out the victory with a pair of fly-outs.
ON THE MOUND:
Sophomore starter Kyle MacKay (Dracut, Mass.) did not factor into the decision after allowing four runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts in two innings. Freshman reliever Dylan Brander (Merrimack, N.H.) picked up the win in relief after giving up a run on one hit with a pair of K's in 1.2 innings and Thibault notched the first save of his career after yielding a run on one hit and a walk in the ninth inning.
Clark starter Michael Soares falls to 0-2 on the season after giving up seven runs (two earned) off six hits and two walks with three punchouts over two innings.
OFF THE BAT:
- Wilhelm was 3-6 with four runs, a double, and three RBI
- Stanton went 3-4 with two runs, a double, a home run, and three RBI
- Dube added three hits, a run, a double, and four RBI in five at-bats
- Freshman Terry Morrissey (Andover, Mass.) was 3-5 with a run and a double
- Dee batted six times but did not register an at-bat after walking four times and dropping down a pair of sac bunts
- For the Cougars, Rulnick went 4-5 with four runs, a double, a home run, and three RBI and Ethan Belt was 2-5 with a run scored
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 9-5 all-time versus Clark University. The Monks defeated the Cougars by an 8-7 score in Standish last Friday.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host Elms College on Saturday in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) doubleheader slated to start at 12:00 PM.
