WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Saint Joseph's College (4-0) opened its Florida trip with a pair of victories on Saturday, sweeping Suffolk University (0-3) by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 in RussMatt Central Florida Invitational baseball action at Chain of Lakes Park on Saturday.
GAME ONE – Saint Joseph's def. Suffolk, 4-2
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's outhit Suffolk, 8-5, and capitalized on two Rams errors while scoring all four of its runs in a decisive sixth inning.
Suffolk carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth after Jack Mihalchik delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, and the Rams maintained that edge through five despite Saint Joseph's threats in both the fourth and fifth.
The Monks finally broke through in the top of the sixth. Sophomore Nick Brindle (Pittsfield, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third before classmate Nick Villano (Peabody, Mass.) lined an RBI single through the left side to even the score. After a groundout and a walk, senior Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) ripped a go-ahead single to left, and junior Vinny O'Leary (North Quincy, Mass.) followed with the key blow of the opener, a two-run single up the middle that scored senior Luke Doughty (York, Maine) and Wilhelm for a 4-1 advantage.
Suffolk answered with an unearned run in the bottom half on Mihalchik's second RBI single of the game, but senior Dylan Brander (Merrimack, N.H.) set the Rams down in order in the seventh to finish off the 4-2 win.
ON THE MOUND:
Saint Joseph's:
- Dylan Brander (W, 2-0): 7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 81 pitches
Suffolk:
- Harry Meehan: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
- Jack Raimo (L, 0-1): 1.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
IN THE BOX:
Saint Joseph's:
- Jared Wilhelm: 2-for-4, R, RBI
- Vinny O'Leary: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, BB
- Nick Brindle: 2-for-4, R
- Nick Villano: 2-for-3, RBI
- Nic Frink (So., Scarborough, Maine): 1-for-3, 2B, BB
Suffolk:
- Jack Mihalchik: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
- Cole Hilliard: 1-for-3, 2 R
- Ross Treubig: 1-for-3
- Sebastian Lampert: 1-for-3
GAME TWO: Saint Joseph's def. Suffolk, 3-2
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Suffolk capitalized on a pair of Saint Joseph's errors in the top of the first and grabbed a 2-0 lead on an RBI single by Sam Armbruster and an RBI groundout from Sebastian Lampert. The Monks answered in the bottom of the second when Nick Villano launched a solo homer to deep left-center, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Saint Joseph's threatened in both the third and fourth innings before breaking through in the fifth. Jared Wilhelm, senior Jack Moltenbrey (East Longmeadow, Mass.), and sophomore Jake Carlisle (Portsmouth, N.H.) were all hit by pitches to load the bases, and Nic Frink delivered the decisive blow with a two-run single through the left side to score Wilhelm and Moltenbrey for a 3-2 advantage.
Senior starter Padraig Mac Seain (Brookline, N.H.) made the lead stand the rest of the way. After a clean fifth and a scoreless sixth, the southpaw worked out of late trouble in the seventh, when Suffolk placed the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with two outs. Mac Seain responded by inducing a game-ending groundout to lock up the complete-game victory.
ON THE MOUND:
Saint Joseph's:
Suffolk:
- Nick Arnett: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
- Ben Cassavoy (L, 0-1): 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
IN THE BOX:
Saint Joseph's:
- Nic Frink: 1-for-3, 2 RBI
- Nick Villano: 1-for-2, HR, RBI, BB
- Jake Carlisle: 1-for-1, BB, HBP
- Josh Hersey (Fr., Salisbury, Mass.): 1-for-3, SB
- Ryan Kastle (Sr., Concord, N.H.): 1-for-3, SB
Suffolk:
- Sam Armbruster: 1-for-3, RBI
- Sebastian Lampert: RBI
- Cole Hilliard: 1-for-3, R
- Mike Mullaney: 1-for-1, 2B
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the sweep Saint Joseph's improves to 33-27 in the history of the series with former Great Northeast Athletic Conference rival Suffolk University.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will take on Vassar College tomorrow in a doubleheader set to begin at 2:00 PM at Chain of Lakes Field #3 in Winter Haven.
