BB: Lasell drops GNAC twin bill at Saint Joseph’s (Maine)

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (Maine) swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball doubleheader versus Lasell College Thursday afternoon at Larry Mahaney Diamond. The Monks opened with a 4-2 triumph and completed the sweep with a 4-3 nightcap victory.

Saint Joseph's improves to 16-6 overall and 2-2 in the GNAC, while Lasell drops to 12-10 and 3-3.

Lasell's doubleheader at Norwich on Saturday has been postponed until April 19, so the Lasers will return to action on Sunday, April 7, hosting GNAC foe Johnson & Wales University at Brandeis University in a doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. Saint Joseph's will play a pair of conference games at Anna Maria College – at Clark University - on Saturday. The opener is slated to start at 3:30 PM.

Saint Joseph's 4, Lasell 2:

St. Joe's opened the lid-lifter with two runs off two hits and a Lasell error in the bottom of the first, when sophomore Hunter Richardson (Monmouth, Maine) and senior Jared Gagne (Dover, N.H.) scored on a Drew Healey (Rochester, N.H.) base hit and subsequent throwing miscue.

The Monks tacked on single runs in the second and third innings, as sophomore Luke Johnson (East Hampton, Conn.) singled, stole second, and scored on a Richardson single in the former and senior Greg Emanuelson (Hudson, N.H.) posted a base hit and later touched home plate on an Anthony DiPrizio (Rochester, N.H.) groundout.

Lasell found the board in the top of the fourth, when senior Andre Marchesseault (Cheshire, Conn.) singled and scored on a Harrison Silva (Lowell, Mass.) base knock. The same duo combined for another run in the sixth, when Marchesseault doubled and eventually scampered home on a Silva groundout, cutting the Monks' cushion to 4-2.

Saint Joseph's freshman starter Matt Poff (Pelham, N.H.) earned his first collegiate victory after posting a strong performance, allowing one run off six hits with three K's over five frames. Freshman Matt Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) gave up one run on one hit in the sixth inning and sophomore Jonathan Marchia (Chicopee, Mass.) picked up his third save of the year after allowing a hit and fanning one batter.

Lasell junior starter Zach Handzel (Palmer, Mass.) falls to 4-2 on the season after yielding four runs (three earned) off seven hits and two walks while striking out five batters over five innings.

Healey was 2-3 with an RBI and was the Monks' lone repeat hitter. Marchesseault led the Lasers' offense by going 2-3 with a double and a pair of runs scored.

Saint Joseph's 4, Lasell 3:

The nightcap followed a script that was eerily similar to that of the opener, as the Monks held a 4-0 lead before allowing the Lasers to creep back into the game late and then slamming the door on the visitor's comeback hopes with effective relief pitching.

St. Joe's utilized a Lasell error to plate a pair in the bottom of the third. With two out and runners on first and second, Emanuelson came to the plate and lofted a shallow fly ball down the right field line that was misplayed, allowing both SJC runners to score.

The Monks employed some small ball tactics in the fifth, as senior first baseman Noah McDaniel (Eliot, Maine) dropped down a safety squeeze bunt with Richardson on first and Gagne on third, with the latter scoring and the former moving up to second. DiPrizio came to the plate and promptly delivered an RBI single, knocking in Gagne, to make it a 4-0 game.

Lasell scored a run off three hits in the top of the sixth, as senior David Marsell (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) singled and later scored on a single by junior Joe Sullivan (East Sandwich, Mass.).

The Lasers made it a 4-3 game with two runs in the top of the seventh when two runs scored on passed balls, but the Monks snuffed out a squeeze play attempt with a pitchout, cutting down Marsell at the plate in the process, and Marchia – who entered the game with one out in the seventh – registered a strikeout for the final out of the contest.

Freshman starter Johnathan Flynn (Holden, Mass.) improved to 3-0 on the season after allowing one run on seven hits with a pair of K's over six innings. Junior Jonathan Rolfe (Plainville, Mass.) allowed two unearned runs off three hits in 0.1 innings of work while Marchia cleaned up the seventh to earn his second save of the day and fourth of the year.

Gagne was 1-2 with two runs and three stolen bases. For Lasell, Marsell, Evan Michalek (Berlin, Conn.), Chris Maringo (Farmingville, N.Y.), and Mario Kiaunis (West Haven, Conn.) notched two hits apiece

(Courtesy of Saint Joseph's Athletic Communications)

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