STANDISH, Maine - The sixth-seeded Norwich University baseball team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament pod play on Friday afternoon, falling to third-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 12-2, at Larry Mahaney Diamond in Standish, Maine.
With the loss, Norwich moves into an elimination game on Saturday morning and will face second-seeded University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) at 9:00 a.m. at USJ Baseball Field in West Hartford, Conn. The Blue Jays dropped their pod opener to seventh-seeded Lasell University, 3-1, on Thursday.
The winner of Saturday's opening game will advance to Game 5B later in the day against the loser of the 12:00 p.m. contest between Lasell and Saint Joseph's (Maine), while the loser will be eliminated from the GNAC Tournament.
Saint Joseph's (Maine) grabbed control early and never fully let Norwich settle in, using a 17-hit attack to build separation over the middle innings. The Cadets stayed within striking distance through the opening third of the game and answered with a brief push in the fourth, but the Monks responded with seven runs over the next three innings to take command.
Norwich collected four hits in the contest, with
Jack Medhurst (Thousand Oaks, Calif.),
Geffen Franus (Leesburg, Va.),
Jon Ringer (Cupertino, Calif.), and
John O'Connor (Southington, Conn.) each recording one. O'Connor drove in a run with a double, while
Trevor Lussier (Lyndonville, Vt.) added the Cadets' other RBI. Medhurst and
Michael Sabasteanski (Ashburn, Va.) both scored for Norwich.
Saint Joseph's (Maine) struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, manufacturing a run on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead. The Monks then created breathing room in the third, stringing together several well-placed hits to score four times and extend the advantage to 5-0.
Norwich responded in the fourth with its best offensive stretch of the afternoon. Medhurst came around to score on a groundout from Lussier, and O'Connor followed later in the inning with a run-scoring double that plated Sabasteanski and cut the deficit to 5-2.
That proved to be as close as the Cadets would get.
The Monks answered immediately in the bottom half of the fifth, using an error and a pair of RBI hits to push three more runs across and rebuild an 8-2 cushion. Saint Joseph's (Maine) added another in the sixth before tacking on three more in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
Jake Carlisle led the Monks offensively with a five-hit day and four RBIs, while Nic Frink and Jared Wilhelm also turned in multi-hit performances as part of the 17-hit output.
Norwich also swiped a pair of bases in the contest, with Medhurst and Franus each recording one, while Ringer was hit by a pitch and added a double. The Cadets will now regroup quickly as they continue pod play on Saturday with their season on the line.
