 |
| Wade Oliver
'09 |
|
| Dustin Spiller
'08 |
 |
| Ben Grant-Roy
'10 |
|
| Brian
Schools '08 |
COURTESY OF AMHERST COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
AMHERST, MA – The Amherst College baseball team (22-9-1) closed
out its regular season non-conference slate by sweeping Saint Joseph’s
College (26-16) in a pair of seven-inning games, 11-4 and 4-1. The
Lord Jeffs increase their winning streak to five and are scheduled
to return to action Sunday, May 4 for a crucial NESCAC West matchup
with Williams College. Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Wahconah Park
in Pittsfield, MA.
Saint Joseph’s threatened in the top of the second when sophomore
Ian Lee doubled down the right field line to advance senior tri-captain
Dustin Spiller to third base. First-year
Eric LaBatte walked to load the
bases, but Amherst starting pitcher Teddy Blank (Waban, MA) got Ricky
Sarmento to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Sarmento hit the ball hard but right to third baseman
Brendan Powers (Walpole, MA), who threw home to get the lead runner
before catcher Neal Allar (Floyds Knobs, IN) fired the ball to first
for the second out.
The Lord Jeffs responded with the game’s first run in the bottom
of the second inning, with first-year Scott Shaffer (Boulder, CO)
picking up his 25th RBI of the season. Shaffer sent a lazy fly ball
to left field, where LaBatte made a sliding catch
in foul territory, but it was enough to allow Allar to tag up from
third base.
The Monks got one back in the top of the third when sophomore Ben
Grant-Roy hit a bloop single to right field to bring
around Wade Oliver, who had reached
on a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Amherst broke
the 1-1 tie in the home half of the third when an Allar grounder got
through the infield on an error, bringing in first-year Brian Merrigan
(Holbrook, MA) and junior Mike Neff (New York, NY) to give the Jeffs
a 3-1 advantage.
The game was broken open in the bottom of the fourth when Amherst
took advantage of four hits and a pair of Saint Joseph’s errors,
as the Jeffs jumped out to an 8-1 lead. The five-run inning was highlighted
by an RBI-double to right field by junior Nat Pedley (Rye, NY), as
well as RBIs from seniors Evan Bruno (Williamsburg, VA) and Nick Boehm
(Shaker Heights, OH).
The Monks loaded the bases in the top of the fifth on consecutive
singles from Oliver, Brian Schools
and Luke Enman, before a walk to
Grant-Roy brought home a run and chased Blank from
the game. First-year Max McKenna (Lexington, MA) came in for relief
and induced two consecutive RBI-ground outs before ending the inning
with a line out, as Amherst led 8-4 heading into the bottom of the
fifth.
McKenna shut down the Monks in the remaining two innings and the Jeffs
piled on another three runs in the fifth thanks to an RBI-double from
Boehm and a pair of Saint Joseph’s errors, as Amherst hung on
for the 11-4 victory. Blank moved to 3-1 with the win, allowing four
earned runs on seven hits and four walks with three strikeouts. McKenna’s
three innings of solid relief earned him his first collegiate save,
as he surrendered just two hits and two walks while striking out a
pair.
Mason Roberge moved to 5-2 on the
year by giving up six runs—three of which were earned—in
three innings. Chris Dion and Steve
Stout combined to allow five runs—only one
of which was earned—in the final three innings, as the Monks
committed six errors on the day. Oliver and Spiller each had two hits
for the visitors, with Grant-Roy picking up a pair
of RBIs.
Neff and Bruno each went 2-for-4 and Pedley finished at 2-for-2, while
Boehm was 1-for-3 with two RBIs to help pace the Amherst offense.
Boehm and Shaffer each scored two runs, and Merrigan crossed the plate
three times despite going 0-for-3 in the game.
Saint Joseph’s starting pitcher Mike Burdin
retired the first five batters he faced in the nightcap but quickly
got into trouble when junior Angus Schaller (Leucadia, CA) and Shaffer
hit back-to-back singles with two outs in the bottom of the second.
Junior Nat Pedley (Rye, NY) picked up a pair of RBIs with his third
triple of the season, as Amherst held a 2-0 lead after two innings.
The Monks cut their deficit in half by scoring an unearned run in
the top of the third thanks to a pair of walks and a Schools
single. With the bases loaded, Spiller sent a grounder
to third base and reached when the throw to second got away, allowing
Oliver to come home for Saint Joseph’s first
and only run.
After playing stellar defense in the top of the sixth, Amherst added
a pair of insurance runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a
4-1 lead. Bruno got things going with a double to left field, and
Schaller was intentionally walked on the ensuing at-bat. After a Shaffer
single loaded the bases, Pedley singled on a flare down the right
field line and Boehm followed with a sacrifice fly to center to cap
off the Jeffs’ scoring on the day.
First-year Pat Harris (Rochester, NY) was nearly un-hittable in his
four inning of relief. After entering the game in the fourth inning
with two runners on base and no outs, Harris put out the flames by
inducing a 1-5-4 double play before getting Oliver
to ground out to end the inning. Harris followed up by retiring nine
of the next 10 batters he faced, as he picked up the win to move to
3-0, allowing just one hit and walking none with two strikeouts.
First-year Jim Cetkovski (Toronto, ON) started for Amherst and allowed
just one unearned run on three hits, but he walked four batters and
lasted just three innings to pick up the no-decision. Michael
Burdin (2-3) accounted for all four runs and scattered
five hits in his 5.1 innings of work, walking two and punching out
two in the loss.
Shaffer went 3-for-3 in the nightcap and Pedley drove in three runs
in his 2-for-3 performance, as the Jeffs managed just seven hits in
the second game.
Saturday’s doubleheader marked the final home games for seniors
Boehm, Bruno, Allar, Josh Card (North Adams, MA) and Chris Edgar (Massapequa,
NY). The class of 2008 is just the second group of Amherst seniors
to post four consecutive 20-win seasons, as this year’s group
has gone a combined 87-41-3 in its four years and is just five wins
shy of becoming the winningest class in head coach Bill Thurston’s
43-year stint at Amherst.
The Monks will wrap up their regular season schedule when the team
hosts Suffolk University on Thursday, May 8th. The first game of the
doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM.
