WENHAM, MA – #2 Saint Joseph's (33-8, 21-3 GNAC) recorded 15 hits and belted a team-record four home runs in a 13-2 GNAC Tournament Semifinal win over #5 Rivier College (25-13, 14-10 GNAC) at Gordon College on Saturday afternoon. Freshman second baseman Connie Grovo (Limington, ME) led the Monks' offensive attack by going 3-4 with two runs, a homer, and four RBI in the victory.
With the win, St. Joe's advances to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Championship game, which will be played at Gordon on Sunday at 1:00 PM. The Monks will face the winner of the #4 St. Joseph (CT)/#5 Rivier matchup, which will be played at 11:00 AM tomorrow, in the title bout.
The vaunted Saint Joseph's lineup wasted little time and earned a sizeable 6-0 lead off seven hits – including two long balls – in the top of the first inning. Right fielder Danyelle Shufelt '13 (Sutton, VT) led off with a single before Grove came up and slammed a two-run jack. Freshman catcher Jill Howard (Rochester, NH) launced a solo blast two batters later and junior designated hitter Maria Labbe (Lewiston, ME) proceeded to make it a 6-0 game with a three-run double.
Junior center fielder Emily Leverone (Hampton, NH) tacked on another run for the Monks with a solo tater, her 11th bomb of the year, in the top of the second.
St. Joe's went on to score six runs off five hits and a Rivier error in the top of the third to leave little doubt as to which team would advance to the championship contest. Freshman shortstop Lindsay Moore (Barrington, NH) led off the frame with a solo home run to center, Grovo registered a two-run single, and third baseman Heather Tripp '13 (Lovell, ME) added an RBI base hit during the inning. Grovo and Leverone scampered home on an infield error to help the Royal Blue take a 13-0 lead heading into the bottom of the third.
The productive SJC lineup deserves to be the lead story, but the effort put forth by freshman pitcher Rae-Marie Copan (Newton, MA) should receive top billing as well. The rookie hurler, now 6-3 on the year, was perfect through three innings and allowed just two runs off three hits with six K's in five innings.
The Raiders finally got on the board with a run off two hits in the bottom of the fourth. Nicole Peacock '14 (Warwick, RI) led off with a double to right and Marissa Mercier '13 (N. Smithfield, RI) drover her home with a single to center. Britnii Dyer '14 (Douglas, MA) looked to ignite a Rivier comeback bid with a solo homer to right-center with one out in the bottom of the fifth, but Copan managed to strike out the next batter and induced a foul out to end the mercy-rule-shortened tourney tilt.
For the Monks, Leverone and Howard both went 2-4 with two runs, a homer, and an RBI and Shufelt added three hits in three trips with a pair of runs scored. Moore was 2-3 with two runs, a jack, and an RBI in the win.
Raiders starter Hillary Tarr '14 (North Easton, MA), who lasted just 1/3 inning, allowed six runs off six hits and a walk, falls to 12-9 on the year with the losing decision. Lauren Beatty '14 (Sherman, CT) came on in relief in the top of the first and yielded seven runs (four earned) off nine hits and a pair of walks with three K's in 4.2 frames.
With 11 taters, Leverone sits in a tie with former teammate Liddy van der Linden '10, who smacked 11 bombs last spring, for the Monks' individual single-season home run record. Moore's blast in the third was the team's 27th of the year and breaks the team mark, formerly held by the 2010 club, for home runs in a season.
With the triumph, Saint Joseph's advances to the conference championship game for the second time in four years as a GNAC member. The Monks lost to Emerson College, 2-1, in the 2009 championship. As the only undefeated team remaining in tourney play, St. Joe's would be denied the program's first-ever GNAC crown only if defeated twice tomorrow afternoon.
