The St. Joseph's College Monks (16-2, 4-0 GNAC) swept a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) baseball double header on Sunday afternoon defeating the Suffolk University Rams (5-13-1, 0-2 GNAC) with a 13-2 game one victory and a 4-2 extra inning victory in the nightcap.
Freshman Nic Lops (South Portland, Me.) broke a 2-2 tie in the eight inning with a two-out single to right field to drive in a pair of runs as the Monks improve to 16-2 on the season and a 4-0 mark to start the 2012 GNAC regular season.
After recording two quick outs to start the inning, junior Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.) worked a walk to keep the inning alive and sophomore Alec Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) followed him by reaching on an infield single. Lops drove in the game-winning runs as he flared a 2-2 offering by junior Jhonneris Mendez (Boston, Mass.) into right field to plate both runners for the twinbill sweep.
Freshman Alex Valenti (Lawrence, Mass.) pitched four innings of relief earning his first collegiate win on the mound, as the Monks were aided by their defense that turned three double plays in game two.
St. Joseph's got on the board in the top of the first inning as Lorenc drove in a pair of runs with a double down the right field line that was overran scoring Pratt and senior Dan Achorn (Bow, N.H.) for the game's first runs.
The Rams would answer in the bottom half of the first as sophomore Devan Jones (Roslindale, Mass.) led the inning off with a hit by pitch. Jones would come around to score later in the inning on an RBI groundout by junior Mike Cunningham (Syosset, N.Y.).
Suffolk evened the game at two in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Jones led the inning off with a single before sophomore Mike Muse (Milton, Mass.) drew a walk that would chase Monks' junior starter Tyler Laverriere (Biddeford, Me.) from the game. Valenti would enter inducing a double play that would help kill the big inning for the Rams, but Jones would later score on a passed ball to even the contest.
Freshman Josh Desai (Shrewsbury, Mass.) pitched six solid innings for Suffolk striking out seven hitters and only allowed two runs on four hits in his outing. Mendez suffered the loss in relief to fall to 2-2 on the hill this year for the Rams.
The Monks used a 13-hit attack to pace themselves to a 13-2 victory in game one of the double header.
Sophomore Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass.) was 4-for-4 with three runs scored to lead the offense, while Pratt finished the game 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI and junior Brandon Chase (Naples, Me.) reached base in all four plate appearances while collecting three RBI in the game.
Junior Zach Raffery (Keene, N.H.) improved to 4-0 on the mound for the Monks as he cruised through six innings of work without surrendering a run, scattering six hits and punching out six Rams hitters in the process.
St. Joseph's College will be back in action on Wednesday afternoon as they host the University of Southern Maine in non-conference action at 4:00pm. Suffolk will travel to Fitchburg State University for a 3:30pm matchup with the Falcons.