WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Saint Joseph's College (2-2) recorded 18 hits in a 17-7 eight-inning victory over Penn St.-Abington (4-3) in RussMatt Central Florida baseball action at the Chain of Lakes complex on Tuesday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks broke open a 1-1 tie with four runs of four hits in the bottom of the fourth, as junior catcher Jackson Stanton (Saugus, Mass.) roped a two-run double and grad student Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) belted a two-run homer to left field to make it a 5-1 game.

The Nittany Lions cut into the SJC lead in the top of the fifth with a Ryan McCarty solo home run, but St. Joe's responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Senior third baseman Ronan Chisholm (North Chatham, Mass.) led off with a walk and later scored on a Cliff Ward (Cohasset, Mass.) squeeze bunt and freshman center fielder Peter O'Brien (Scarborough, Maine) ripped a run-scoring single to lift the Monks to a 7-2 cushion.

The teams swapped runs in the sixth and Abington made it an 8-4 game with a run on a sac fly in the seventh. The Monks proceeded to put the game out of reach with four runs on two hits and a PSU error in the bottom of the seventh, when grad student Ben Gravel (Rochester, N.H.) scored on a double steal and Chisholm delivered an RBI double.

The Nittany Lions refused to go away however and tacked on three more runs on three hits and an SJC error in the top of the eighth, but the Monks responded with five runs in the bottom of the frame, with Gravel notching a two-run double and later scoring the mercy-rule run on a fielder's choice off the bat of junior Jacob McGill (Derry, N.H.).

ON THE MOUND:

• Senior starter Matt Poff (Pelham, N.H.) pitched well in his first start of the season, allowing a run on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts over four innings; he also benefited from a pair of double plays
• Freshman reliever Hugh Barrett (Durham, Conn.) picked up the victory after yielding two runs on one hit in one inning of work
• Gravel made his collegiate debut on the mound and allowed a run on three hits with a strikeout in two innings
• Senior Devan Harrison (Pocasset, Mass.) surrendered three unearned runs on three hits with one strikeout in an inning of relief
• For Penn St.-Abington, starter Bill Trimble took the loss after allowing five runs on nine hits and three walks with four K's in 3.2 innings

OFF THE BAT:

• Gravel went 4-for-6 with three runs, a double, three stolen bases, and two RBI
• Healey was 3-for-4 with three runs, a double, a home run, and four RBI
• O'Brien went 3-for-5 with three runs, a double, and an RBI
• Chisholm added three hits in five at-bats with two runs, a double, and two RBI
• For the Nittany Lions, McCarty went 2-for-5 with a double and a home run, Chase Swain went 2-for-4 with two runs, two doubles and an RBI, and Jaden Himmelreich added a pair of singles in four trips to the plate

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's has the day off tomorrow and will face Husson University in a doubleheader on Thursday starting at 4:00 PM.

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