Box Score PHOTO CREDIT: Brian Berthiaume '24
AUBURNDALE, Fla. - Springfield College overcame a 4-0 deficit to defeat Saint Joseph's College, 5-4, in RussMatt Central Florida Invitational baseball action on Thursday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning when senior Dawson Gundlah (York, Maine) led off with a solo home run to left and sophomore Dylan Brander (Merrimack, N.H.) walked and later scored on a Vinny O'Leary (North Quincy, Mass.) sac fly to right field.
Senior first baseman Luke Stephens (Glastonbury, Conn.) lifted the Monks to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third with a solo blast to deep left-center. St. Joe's secured a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the fifth after sophomore Jared Wilhelm (Tolland, Conn.) singled and eventually scrambled home on a passed ball.
After five scoreless turns at the bat, the Pride broke through in the top of the sixth with a run and tied the game with three runs on four hits in the top of the seventh.
The SJC bats went silent in the seventh and eighth innings with six straight outs and Springfield plated what proved to be the winning run in the top of the ninth when Michael Barrett knocked in pinch runner Adam Fine with a sac fly to center field.
St. Joe's had runners on first and third with two out in the bottom of the ninth, but the Pride managed to preserve the victory with a harmless groundout.
ON THE MOUND:
- Grad starting pitcher Matthew Bergeron (Salem, N.H.) had an excellent outing but did not figure into the decision after allowing one run off five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in six innings
- Junior Hugh Barrett (Durham, Conn.) gave up three runs on three hits in 0.2 innings
- Stephens suffered the loss after yielding a run on two hits with three K's in 2.1 innings
- Springfield reliever Matthew Robinson earned the victory after tossing three scoreless innings with a pair of punchouts
OFF THE BAT:
- Wilhelm went 3-5 with a run scored
- Gundlah and Stephens both went 2-4 with a solo home run
- Freshman catcher Brady Cabral (Fall River, Mass.) was 2-3 with a walk in his first collegiate start
- For Springfield, Michael Lepere, Ryan Sorgi, Andrew Sweet, and Adam Crocker produced two hits apiece
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's closes out the 2024 spring trip with a pair of games versus Suffolk University on Friday. The opener is set to start at 3:45 PM.
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