Baseball Comes Up Short In GNAC Quarterfinals

The Suffolk University Baseball team nearly erased an early six run deficit but left the go-ahead run on base as junior Joe Gruntkowsky (Peabody, Mass.) pitched through a bases loaded jam in the ninth inning to lift the St. Joseph's College Monks to an 8-6 victory in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals on Thursday evening in Standish, Maine.

Trailing 8-5 in the ninth junior Mac Jacobson (Norfolk, Mass.) led the inning off with a hit by pitch. Junior Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) hit a two-strike single to right as the Rams began to rally. Junior Devan Jones (Roslindale, Mass.) would follow things up with a single to left to bring Jacobson in and chase junior reliever Nick Whittaker (Yarmouth, Me.) from the game. Gruntkowsky was summoned in from the bullpen and recorded consecutive punchouts of seniors Mike Cunningham (Syosset, N.Y.) and Chris Stanley (Placentia, Calif.). Junior Mike Muse (Milton, Mass.) would keep things going for Suffolk as his ground ball to the left side of the infield kept everyone safe on the bases as the throw to third was behind a sliding Cintolo giving Suffolk a chance. The Monks would end the game with a pop-up to second base as they advance into the winner's bracket of this year's tournament that will continue on Saturday afternoon at Nashua's Holman Stadium.

The save was Gruntokowsky's second of the year.

The Monks got off to a quick start as freshman Zach Graham (Marlborough, Mass.) led the first off with a single to right center. Junior Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) would hit a 3-1 fastball over the leftfield scoreboard for his first of two homers on the day to stake St. Joseph's to a quick 2-0 lead.

In his next at-bat in the third Lorenc would double to right center with one out before sophomore Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.) would reach on a botched 3-1 exchange at first base. Sophomore Nic Lops (South Dartmouth, Me.) would then double to right with two outs to build the Monks' lead to   4-0 after three innings.

Stanley would score Suffolk's first run in the fifth inning as he led off with a single. Freshman Jon LaPolla (Providence, R.I.) drove in Suffolk's first run with an infield single as the Rams put runners on the corners with one out.

Lorenc and the Monks would answer in the bottom half of the inning as the Monks' rightfielder crushed his fifth homer of the season on the first pitch he saw to lead off the frame. St. Joseph's would tack on two more runs later in the inning as a hit by pitch and walk would be followed by a single to right by senior Brandon Chase (Naples, Me.) loading the bases. Junior Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass.) would bring in the next run with a sacrifice fly to center field, before senior Sam Butts (Saco, Me.) slapped a single to third base that was not played to make it a 7-1 ballgame through five innings.

Suffolk would grab a run in the sixth with some more botched PFP play as sophomore JC Collette (Amesbury, Mass.) came around to score on an overthrow after leading the inning off with a base hit.

Suffolk would begin their charge in the seventh inning as they strung together five straight singles to chase Monks senior starter Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) from the game. LaPolla would get the inning going with a base hit up the middle before sophomore Adam Johnson (Georgetown, Mass.) singled down the left field line. A single by Jacobson would load up the bases and set the table for Cintolo who singled to left to drive in a pair. Jones' capped off the inning with a single to right to bring in Jacobson as the Monks would summon Whittaker in from the bullpen. The big righty would escape any further trouble by striking out a pair to end the inning even after a passed ball would bring a pair of runners into scoring position.

Freshman Taylor Reuillard (Biddeford, Me.) would help give the Monks some insurance in the seventh as he doubled to left, his second two bagger of the ball game. He would come around to score later in the inning as Graham singled him in with a base hit to right to put St. Joseph's back up by three at 8-5.

Lorenc finished the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI to pace an 11-hit attack for the Monks.

Both teams finished the day with 11 hits, the difference was the Monks' seven extra base hits as all eleven of Suffolk's hits were limited to singles.

Cintolo was 3-for-5 for Suffolk, while Jacobson, Jones and LaPolla each had a pair of hits.

Raffery improves to 5-2 on the mound this season for St. Joe's. In five career starts against Suffolk, Rafferty has won four all of which have come over the past two seasons. He struck out three in six innings of work on Thursday evening, while scattering nine hits and allowing five runs, three of which were earned.

St. Joseph's extends their winning streak over Suffolk now to 11 games dating back to April 16, 2011 when the two teams split a regular season doubleheader.

The second-seeded Monks will now take on top-seed Johnson & Wales University in the winner's bracket on Saturday.

Suffolk will square off with Lasell College on Saturday at noon. The Lasers dropped a 6-3 decision to the Wildcats in the other GNAC Tournament game on Thursday evening. The loser will be eliminated, while the winner will take on the loser of the winner's bracket game later Saturday evening.

Suffolk and St. Joseph's have met in each of the past in each of the past five GNAC Tournament Championship games with the Monks taking the last three season championships. The victor of this weekend's double elimination tournament will earn an automatic qualifier into this year's NCAA Division-III Tournament beginning in mid-May.