Quincy, Mass. – The Suffolk University Baseball team (11-10 overall, 7-1 GNAC) swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference double header over the Emerson College Lions (11-10 overall, 5-3 GNAC) to move into sole possession of first place in the league. The Rams got solid pitching performances in both games, junior Alex Torres (Framingham, Mass.) picked up his third win over the mound leading the Rams to a 9-2 victory. Senior Marc Doyle (Whitman, Mass.) was dominant in game two as he struck out 12, only allowing three hits in a 6-0 shutout. Freshman Jhonneris Mendez (Roslindale, Mass.) continued to stay hot with that bat as he picked up five more RBI on the day.
In game one, the Rams were able to take advantage of a shaky Emerson pitching staff as the five of the first six Suffolk hitters drew walks. Senior Bobby Barrett (Milton, Mass.) drove home the game’s first run with an RBI-single as the Lions handed the Rams a 4-0 lead before recording an out.
Senior Rory Gentile (Gloucester, Mass.) made it 6-0 in the third as he drove a triple deep into center driving home two more runs. Gentile would score later on a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Chris Stanley (Orange Country, Calif.).
Mendez drove in a pair of runs in the sixth with a single. The freshman third baseman finished game one, 1-for-3 with three RBI and a walk. Barrett was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI.
Tores faced little trouble only allowing five hits while striking out four in the complete game effort.
Emerson’s Dexter Garcia (Westport, Conn.) was 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Suffolk jumped out early in game two as well, hopping out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Gentile got the inning started drawing a leadoff walk, and then stole second base. He scored the very next pitch on a single to left off the bat of Chris Stanley. Marc Doyle extended his hitting streak to 17 games later in the inning with an opposite field double in the left center gap scoring Stanley from first base. Mendez brought in a pair of runners later in the inning with a double.
Doyle cruised recording his first six outs of the game via strikeout as he overpowered the Emerson lineup. No Lions’ base runner reaches third base in the seven innings of play, as Emerson could only muster three singles in the game. Doyle struck out the side in the first and second innings, before finishing the seventh with three more punchouts.
Junior Andrew Babb (Ashland, Mass.) hit his first home run of the season, as his line drive just scraped over the left field fence to lead off the bottom of the fifth.
Both teams will be back in action on Sunday in GNAC double headers. Emerson host St. Joseph’s College (Me.) at Maplewood Park at noon, while the Rams will travel to Waltham to take on the Lasell College Lasers beginning at noon.