STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (25-13, 11-3 GNAC) defeated Bowdoin College (18-16-1, 5-7 NESCAC), 2-0, in a non-conference baseball game at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Sunday. Monks' senior starting pitcher Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine) tossed seven outstanding innings, scattering four hits with seven strikeouts to collect the win on the mound.

Sanborn, who lowered his season ERA to 2.12 and improved to 6-1 with the victory, and Bowdoin junior hurler Henry Van Zant (Westport, Conn.) locked heads for one of the best pitching matchups seen at Mahaney Diamond this spring. Van Zant took the loss after yielding a pair of unearned runs off six hits and two walks with six K's over eight impressive frames.

The Monks took advantage of two errors by the Polar Bears in the bottom of the fifth to produce all of the offense in the battle of in-state rivals. With one out, senior center fielder Louie Vigars (Stratham, N.H.) doubled down the left field line. Senior right fielder Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) followed and struck out, but junior designated hitter Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) extended the inning by reaching on a four-pitch walk. Up next was junior catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.), who hit a slow roller near the third base line. Van Zant fielded the ball and tossed an errant throw to first, allowing Coyne to reach and Vigars to score from second.

Freshman infielder Mike Kinch (Newton, Mass.) entered the game as a pinch runner for Coyne and, with Lops now on third, headed for second on a first-move steal. Van Zant faked a throw to second and threw to third, where Lops had taken a few steps towards home, but his throw tipped off the glove of third baseman Sam Canales (Saco, Maine) glove, allowing Lops to lumber home and score the Monks' second run.

Sanborn, who threw just 84 pitches – 59 for strikes – over seven strong frames, was removed in favor of sophomore Corey McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.), who was forced to work through a pair of jams in order to preserve the 2-0 lead and notch his fourth save of the season.

In the top of the eighth, after recording two outs on just three pitches, McNamara allowed back-to-back singles off the bats of junior shortstop Aaron Rosen (Morganville, N.J.) and junior left fielder Cole DiRoberto (Worcester, Mass.), but hunkered down and fanned the Polar Bears #3 hitter, sophomore first baseman Chad Martin (Rowley, Mass.), to end the threat.

Bowdoin had runners on first and third with one out in the ninth, but McNamara managed to escape unscathed after inducing a shallow fly to center off the bat of senior catcher Duncan Taylor (Washington, D.C.) and a groundout to second by senior designated hitter Matt Savard (Duxbury, Mass.).

For the Monks, senior third baseman Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass.) was 1-2 with a pair of sacrifice bunts and McNamara allowed four hits with a strikeout in two innings of effective relief.

For the Polar Bears, Canales was 2-4 and senior center fielder Kyle LeBlanc (Newburyport, Mass.) went 2-3 with a pair of doubles in a losing effort.

Saint Joseph's improves to 24-22-3 in the history of the series with Bowdoin College, which defeated the Monks by an 11-6 margin earlier this season (4/9).

Prior to the start of the game, the SJC baseball program held a brief ceremony to honor the team's 10 seniors: Vigars, Lorenc, Sanborn, Markakis, Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.), Nick Whittaker (Yarmouth, Maine), Chris Bryant (Gray, Maine), Jack Reilly (Worcester, Mass.), Willie Brown (Fayette, Maine) and Shayne Curtis (New Gloucester, Maine). The Monks have posted a 127-49 (.722) overall record, including a 50-10 (.833) mark versus GNAC opponents, with four conference championships and four NCAA Tournament appearances with this group on the roster over the last four seasons.

The Monks have three games remaining before beginning NCAA Tournament play next week, starting with a doubleheader at Bates College on Wednesday (11:00 AM). St. Joe's caps the regular season with a single nine-inning game versus Endicott College at 3:30 PM at Mahaney Diamond on Thursday.

Today's contest was the 2014 finale for the Polar Bears, who failed to qualify for the NESCAC Tournament for the first time since the 2009 campaign.

2014 SENIOR CLASS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS - photo courtesy of Jared Shabo '14

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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.