Saint Joseph's Maine, Suffolk Grab GNAC Baseball Tournament Wins Thursday

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine handled fourth-seeded Lasell College, 7-0, and third-seeded Suffolk University went on the road to defeat second-seeded Johnson & Wales University, 7-5, on Thursday night in second-round action of the 2015 GNAC Baseball Tournament.

As a result, JWU and Lasell will be on the brink when the double-elimination portion of the bracket continues on Saturday morning at Holman Stadium in Nashua, N.H. The two teams will square off in an elimination game at 10:00 a.m. in the first of three contests that are scheduled to take place on Saturday.

Suffolk and Saint Joseph's (Maine) will match up in the second contest at approximately 1:30 p.m. The loser will square off against the winner of the Lasell-JWU matchup in another elimination contest.

#1 SAINT JOSEPH'S (MAINE) 7, #4 LASELL 0
STANDISH, Maine – Senior catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.), pictured, went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and four RBI in the victory for the Monks on Thursday.

The Monks clicked on all cylinders with timely hitting, excellent pitching and mistake-free defense in the team's tournament opener. Senior pitcher Alex Valenti (Lawrence, Mass.) tossed seven scoreless, two-hit innings with four walks and eight strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season and the Saint Joseph's lineup totaled 16 hits, including five of the extra-base variety, in the shutout victory.

With the win, Saint Joseph's jumps into the winners' bracket and will face #3 Suffolk University at 1:30 PM on Saturday at Holman Stadium in Nashua, New Hampshire. Lasell takes on #2 Johnson & Wales University in a losers' bracket contest at 10:00 AM in Nashua on Saturday. Suffolk defeated Johnson & Wales, 7-5, in the other second round contest earlier this evening.

After stranding two runners in both the first and second innings, the Monks got on the board in the third when junior left fielder Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Maine) tripled to deep center and trotted home when Coyne launched his first jack of the day, a deep shot over the left-center wall to make it a 2-0 game through three full frames.

The 2-0 lead remained until the bottom of the sixth, when Saint Joseph's knocked in three runs off four hits and a Lasell error to secure a 5-0 advantage. With one out, sophomore second baseman Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) singled up the middle and scored two batters later when Reuillard reached on an error. Senior third baseman Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine) singled and raced home on a Coyne two-bagger down the left field line and sophomore first baseman Brett Barbati (Melrose, Mass.) plated Reuillard with a flare to right field.

The Monks proceeded to tack on single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, as sophomore center fielder Dennis Meehan (Gardiner, Maine) worked a one-out walk and scored on a base hit in the former and Coyne led off with a solo homer to left in the latter to account for the 7-0 final.

For the Monks, Sanborn was 3-4 with a run and an RBI, Barbati went 3-5 with a double and an RBI and sophomore Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.) added a pair of hits in four at bats in the convincing victory. In relief, junior Riley Cox (Westford, Mass.) fanned three batters with a walk in an impressive inning of work and junior Corey McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) walked one with a trio of harmless fly-outs in another effective frame to close out the contest.

Coyne is the first St. Joe's player to belt a pair of home runs in the same game since former teammate Alex Lorenc '14 launched two taters in a GNAC Tournament win over Suffolk on April 25, 2013.

Lasell junior right fielder Skylar Beckerman (Pensacola, Fla.) and freshman shortstop Jesse Tejero (West Haven, Conn.) both went 1-3 and accounted for the Lasers' only two hits in the losing effort. Freshman starting pitcher Josh Bahnick (Clinton, Mass.) took the loss after allowing two runs off eight hits in 2.1 innings while senior Ryan Bowen (Hudson, Mass.) yielded three runs (two earned) off six hits with a punch-out in 3.2 frames of relief. Junior Gary Trottier (Rehoboth, Mass.) and senior Vinny Romano (Yonkers, N.Y.) combined to give up two runs off two hits and a pair walks in two innings of mop-up duty.

Overall, Saint Joseph's stranded 12 runners while just two Lasell baserunners advanced past second base all afternoon.

#3 SUFFOLK 7, #2 JOHNSON & WALES 5
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Suffolk senior Frank Tierney (Hyde Park, Mass.) improved to 4-0 on the mound on the year as he went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five in Thursday's victory. Junior Cal Carroll (Methuen, Mass.) escaped a jam in the ninth to preserve the victory earning his third save of the season.

Suffolk jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top half of the second inning. Junior Rob Marks (Revere, Mass.) led the inning off with a single to left before being retired on a fielder's choice in the next at bat. Senior Adam Johnson (Georgetown, Mass.) would later single before sophomore BJ Neil (Lynnfield, Mass.) reached on the third base hit of the inning to load things up. Freshman Brady Chant (Warwick, R.I.) would plate the game's first run with a base hit to left, before junior Julien Plana (Miami, Fla.) made it a 2-0 game with an RBI groundout.

Johnson & Wales would answer in the home half of the third inning. Senior Rob Bochetti (East Meadow, N.Y.) would single to right center to lead off the inning before senior Kory Ferullo (Rochester, N.H.) doubled to give the Wildcats a pair of runners in scoring position. After a walk to load the bases, sophomore Carlos Sanabria (Pawtucket, R.I.) drove in the first run of the game for Johnson & Wales with a sacrifice fly to right. A breaking ball in the dirt would get away as Ferullo came around to even up the game. Tierney however would escape any further damage striking out the next two hitters with the game at a 2-2 deadlock through three innings.

Chant would put Suffolk up by a run in the fourth as he scored on a passed ball after singling with two outs to keep the inning alive.

Suffolk would tack on two more runs in the sixth in large part to a pair of Wildcats' errors. Junior Drew Carter (Newburyport, Mass.) would lead the inning off with a base hit back up the middle before advancing on a wild pitch. Johnson would attempt to move him over to third with a sacrifice bunt but the errant throw would go down the right field line allowing Carter to score. Later with runners on second and third Plana would hit a ground ball to third as Johnson tried to score. The throw would sail over the catcher's head bringing home another run making it a 5-2 game.

Suffolk would tack on some insurance in the eighth as senior JC Collette (Amesbury, Mass.) drove in a pair of runs with a double to deep right scoring freshman pinch runner Seth Coiley (Arlington, Mass.) and junior Jon Lapolla (Providence, R.I.). The scoring would start as both Plana and Lapolla drew walks with two outs to extend the inning.

Johnson & Wales would not go quietly as they brought three runs across in the ninth. Sophomore Lou Umberto (Cranston, R.I.) would start the threat as he singled into right. Bochetti would follow him with a single, before Ferullo doubled down the right field line to score Umberto. Junior Andrew Hunton (Monroe, N.Y.) would then drop a double down the left field line to plate another run and chase freshman reliever David Apostolides (Peabody, Mass.) from the game. Carroll would enter as Sanabria connected on his second sacrifice fly of the game to left field to make it a 7-5 game. Junior Tom Elkow (Morganville, N.J.) would extend the inning with a base hit up the middle, but Carroll would record the final out of the game and preserve the win.

Johnson & Wales put together a 10-hit attack in the game as Bochetti and Ferullo each had three hits a piece. Both players also scored twice. Umberto was also 2-for-4 in the setback.

Junior Jake Marchessault (Wyoming, R.I.) went 7 2/3 on the mound for the Wildcats as he allowed seven runs, five earned on 10 hits while recording five strikeouts.

Chant and Neil were each 2-for-5 for Suffolk. Eight of the nine players in the lineup recorded at least one hit. Lapolla was 1-for-2 with a run scored while also drawing two walks.

With the loss Johnson & Wales moves to a 17-13 record on the season. The second seed Wildcats will now play number four seed Lasell College at 10:00am in the elimination game on Saturday. Lasell fell to St. Joe's 7-0 in their quarterfinals matchup.

Suffolk moves to a 15-16 overall record on the year. They will matchup with the Monks for the 16th team in a GNAC Tournament game on Saturday since the 2008 season.

Recap Courtesy of SJC & Suffolk Athletics Communications.

First Round - Tuesday, April 21 (single elimination) | RECAP
Game 1: #3 Suffolk 10, #6 Albertus Magnus 5 | BOX
Game 2: #4 Lasell 1, #5 Rivier 0 | BOX

Second Round - Thursday, April 23 (double elimination begins)
Game 3: #1 Saint Joseph's Maine 7, #4 Lasell 0 | BOX
Game 4: #3 Suffolk 7, #2 Johnson & Wales 5 | BOX

Semifinals - Saturday, April 25 (at Holman Stadium, Nashua, N.H.)
Game 5: #4 Lasell vs. #2 Johnson & Wales (elimination game) - 10:00 a.m.
Game 6: #3 Suffolk vs. #1 Saint Joseph's Maine - 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: Game 6 loser vs Game 5 winner (elimination game) - 5:00 p.m. 

Championship - Sunday, April 26 (at Holman Stadium, Nashua, N.H.)
Game 8: Game 7 winner vs. Game 6 winner - 12:00 p.m.
Game 9: if necessary - 3:30 p.m.

– #theGNAC –