STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (swept Elms College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Larry Mahaney Diamond. The Monks claimed a 5-0 victory in the opener before completing the sweep with an 8-3 win in the nightcap.
GAME ONE – Saint Joseph's 5, Elms 0
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's wasted little time jumping in front in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) walked and sophomore Vinny O'Leary (North Quincy, Mass.) followed with a free pass before sophomore Nic Frink (Scarborough, Maine) lined an RBI single to right field. Sophomore Nick Villano (Peabody, Mass.) added another run-scoring single to center to give the Monks a 2-0 lead.
The Monks added to the advantage in the third inning when O'Leary walked and eventually came home as Villano grounded into a double play, pushing the lead to 3-0.
Saint Joseph's extended the margin in the fourth. Senior Michael Richards (Melrose, Mass.) singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Wilhelm.
The final run came in the sixth when senior Luke Doughty (York, Maine) singled and eventually crossed the plate on a Frink sacrifice fly as the Monks closed out the 5-0 victory.
ON THE MOUND
Saint Joseph's:
- Padraig Mac Seain (Sr., Brookline, N.H.) – 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Ryan Thurber (Sr., South Portland, Maine) (W, 2-0) – 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
- Paul Donnelly (So., Middleton, Mass.) – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Elms:
- Luke Guyer (L, 1-1) – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
- Scott Cooper – 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
- Justin Saad – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
IN THE BOX:
Saint Joseph's:
Elms:
- Eliam Martinez (Fr., Dominican Republic) – 2-for-2, BB, 2B
- Manny Essley (Jr., Duxbury, Mass.) – 1-for-3
- Andrew Ciaglo (Jr., Hadley, Mass.) – 1-for-3
GAME TWO – Saint Joseph's 8, Elms 3
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's again struck first in the nightcap, scoring twice in the opening frame. Wilhelm and O'Leary reached on errors on consecutive plays before Villano delivered a two-run single to center to make it 2-0.
The Monks broke the game open in the third inning. Sophomore Jake Carlisle (Portsmouth, N.H.) tripled to center and Frink followed with an RBI single before Villano launched a two-run homer to left-center, extending the lead to 5-0.
Saint Joseph's padded the advantage in the sixth. Senior Ryan Kastle (Concord, N.H.) doubled to center and later scored on an RBI single by Wilhelm. O'Leary then ripped a triple down the right-field line that plated two more runs and stretched the lead to 8-0.
Elms scored three times in the ninth inning, but sophomore William Dionne (Somerset, Mass.) entered and helped the Monks secure the sweep.
ON THE MOUND:
Saint Joseph's:
- Dylan Brander (Sr., Merrimack, N.H.) (W, 3-2) – 7.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
- Kyle Notenboom (Jr., North Reading, Mass.) – 1.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
- William Dionne – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Elms:
- Sal Ortiz (So., Springfield, Mass.) - (L, 1-2) 3.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
- Colby Arnold (Sr., Waterford, Conn.) – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
- Ryan Ziegler (Jr., Uncasville, Conn.) – 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
- Brycen Diaz (So., Andrews, Texas) – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
IN THE BOX:
Saint Joseph's:
- Nick Villano – 2-for-4, R, 4 RBI, HR
- Nic Frink – 2-for-4, R, RBI
- Jared Wilhelm – 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI
- Vinny O'Leary – 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 3B
- Ryan Kastle – 1-for-4, R, 2B
- Jack Moltenbrey (Sr., East Longmeadow, Mass.) – 1-for-1, R, 2 BB
Elms:
- Manny Essley – 2-for-4, R, while playing excellent defense at third base
- Nason Busca (Sr., Windsor, Conn.) – 1-for-3, RBI, BB
- Liam Pond (So., Holyoke, Mass.) – 1-for-1, R
- Andrew Ciaglo – 1-for-3, BB
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the sweep, Saint Joseph's improves to 13-4 all-time against Elms College and has now won four consecutive meetings with the Blazers.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Wednesday, April 1, when the Monks travel to face Bates College in a non-conference contest scheduled for 3:00 PM.
