NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The nationally-ranked Saint Joseph's College (Maine) baseball team survived a scare from Norwich University in game one of a Great Northeast Athletic Conference doubleheader, rallying from a 4-2 fifth-inning deficit to claim a 5-4 win. The Monks (29-3, 12-0 GNAC), who are currently ranked 17th in the nation in both the Collegiate Baseball and NCBWA/d3baseball.com polls, secured a 9-4 victory in the nightcap to record the sweep.

Senior Alexandro Cardoza (Cicero, Ill./Cristo Rey Jesuit) delivered a gritty performance on the mound for the Cadets (4-28, 1-11 GNAC), giving up four earned runs on 11 hits while issuing only one walk as he fell to 1-4. The right-hander worked into the seventh, surrendering a double to Joe Coyne to lead off the frame. Coyne would go on to score the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Mike Pratt off senior Don DiBastiani (Whitehall, Md./North Hartford).

The Norwich offense was led by junior outfielder Dustin Shimkus' (Collinsville, Ill./Metro East Lutheran) two-run home run with two outs in the third inning. Senior catcher Corey Shearer (Montague, Mass./Turner Falls) had a RBI single in the second inning.

Andrew Devereaux (1-0) worked 2.2 innings of relief to earn the win for SJC, allowing one hit while striking out two and walking one. Alex Valenti came on to record the final two outs with a runner on second in the bottom of the seventh, his second save of the season. Dan Achorn went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored to lead the Monks at the plate.

Game two saw Saint Joseph's jump out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second, only to see Norwich score three runs back in the bottom of the frame on two hits and an error. The Monks would score single runs in the third and fourth innings before effectively putting the game out of reach with a three-run fifth.

Pratt went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two RBIs to power SJC in the second game. Brandon Chase added a three-run blast of his own in the second inning. Nick Whittaker moved to 5-0 on the mound, scattering three hits over five innings. He struck out three and walked five, only giving up one earned run in the process.  

Freshman Brandon Place (Concord, N.H./Concord) dropped to 0-6 with the loss for NU. Shimkus went 1-for-3 with two RBIs to again pace the Cadets at the dish.

Norwich is back at home again tomorrow when it hosts in-state rival St. Michael's. The game is set for a 4 p.m. start at Garrity Field.