PURCHASE, N.Y. – Saint Joseph's College (12-10, 6-0 GNAC) won both ends of a GNAC Baseball doubleheader with Albertus Magnus College (8-10, 3-3 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon. The Monks edged the Falcons by a 3-2 margin in the opener and completed the sweep with a 6-2 victory in the closing contest. Senior southpaw Dan Meeken (Marshfield, Mass.) tossed a complete-game one-hitter in the first game of the day.
With the two wins, Saint Joseph's caps a stretch in which the team played six conference contests in a matter of three days. The Monks emerged victorious in all six games with the help of dominant pitching, as the SJC staff posted a collective 1.71 ERA with a .185 opponents' batting average during the three-day span.
GAME ONE
Meeken was certainly the story in the opening contest, but the day did not start off well for the lefthander, as the Falcons managed to score two runs off what turned out to be their only hit of the day in the bottom of the first frame.
Meeken opened the game with back-to-back walks, issuing free passes to Tyler Graziano (Trumbull, Conn.) and Nick Sedia (Bronx, N.Y.), and both runners moved up 90 feet on a groundout. With one out, junior third baseman Justin Poirier (Meriden, Conn.) entered the box and plated both runners with a single through the left side, lifting the hosts to an early 2-0 cushion.
Saint Joseph's responded with a run in the top of the second. With two out, sophomore center fielder Dennis Meehan (Gardiner, Maine) earned a four-pitch walk and moved to third when sophomore shortstop Max McCoomb (South Berwick, Maine) doubled to left-center. Senior third baseman Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine) reached via base on balls to load the bases for sophomore second baseman Taylor Black (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.), who was hit by a pitch on a 1-1 count, a false move by Albertus starter Ryan Fowler (Cheshire, Conn.) that allowed Meehan to walk home from third and make it a 2-1 game.
Meeken settled in after the first inning and did not allow a baserunner until the bottom of the sixth when Graziano led off with a five-pitch walk. The leadoff free pass did not prove harmful however, as the senior hurler quickly erased the Albertus runner by picking him off at first.
With Meeken in the groove, the Monks gained momentum as the game moved along and capitalized by scoring single runs in the sixth and seventh en route to claiming the 3-2 victory. In the sixth, sophomore pinch hitter Dan Donovan (Lynn, Mass.) led off and delivered a double to left field before being removed from the bases in favor of senior pinch runner Anthony Zawistowski (Otisville, N.Y.), who promptly swiped third base. With one out, McCoomb sent Zawistowski home with a single to right, tying the game at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth.
In the seventh, junior left fielder Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Maine) led off with a triple to right-center and it seemed he would be stranded there, as sophomore reliever Tom Moore (East Haven, Conn.) entered the game and quickly induced a pair of harmless infield outs. With two down, sophomore Scott Betts (Peabody, Mass.) came up with the big hit, sending Reuillard home with a single up the middle for the eventual game-winning run.
For the Monks, McCoomb was 2-3 with a double and an RBI and Sanborn went 2-2 with a double and a triple. Meeken faced just three batters over the minimum and struck out four in the dominant outing.
Fowler took the loss after allowing three runs off seven hits and three walks and four hit batsmen with five K's in six innings. Moore surrendered a pair of hits during one inning of relief.
GAME TWO
Saint Joseph's never trailed in the nightcap, as the Royal Blue plated three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and a pair in the seventh en route to the 6-2 triumph.
In the fourth, Reuillard led off with a triple and scored when the following batter, senior Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.), singled through the left side. Coyne later scored on a McCoomb sac fly to center field and Betts plated sophomore first baseman Brett Barbati (Melrose, Mass.), who was credited with a sac bunt and reached on an error, with a single down the left field line, making it a 3-0 game.
The Falcons countered with a pair of runs off three hits in the bottom of the fourth, when senior Arber Mehmedi (Naugatuck, Conn.) registered an RBI double and junior Mike Saia (Bridgeport, Conn.) rapped an RBI single to cut the hosts' deficit to 3-2 through four frames.
Saint Joseph's answered with a run in the fifth, when Sanborn walked and later scored on a Reuillard double to left-center, and two in the seventh, when Barbati plated a pair with a bases-loaded single, accounting for the 6-2 final.
For the Monks, Reuillard was 2-3 with a run, a double, a triple and an RBI and Coyne went 2-3 with a run, a two-bagger and an RBI. Sophomore starting pitcher Nick Malatesta (Wrentham, Mass.) picked up his second win of the season after allowing a pair of runs off four hits and four walks with five K's in six innings and freshman Josh Partridge (Deerfield, N.H.) gave up a pair of hits in an otherwise clean inning of relief.
For the Falcons, Saia was 2-3 with an RBI and senior Anthony Pellegrino (Branford, Conn.) went 2-4 in the losing effort. Junior Jordan Kubilus (Cheshire, Conn.) takes the loss after giving up four runs (three earned) off five hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 18-1 in the history of the series with Albertus Magnus College, a team the Monks have now defeated in 16 consecutive meetings dating back to the 2008 season.
Saint Joseph's returns to the diamond with a single-nine inning game at Bates College on Monday at 4:00 PM. Albertus Magnus plays a pair at Western Connecticut State on Thursday with first pitch slated for 4:00 PM.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.