Hornets close out Florida trip with doubleheader against St. Joseph's of Maine

Winter Haven, FL - The Northern Vermont University-Lyndon baseball team closed out its trip to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a doubleheader against St. Joseph's College of Maine on Sunday morning.  The Hornets dropped both ends of the twinbill, falling 9-6 in game one and 10-5 in game two.  Lyndon completes its Florida trip with a 1-9 record, while SJC opens its season at 2-0.

Game 1 - St. Joseph's 9, NVU-Lyndon 6

The Hornets struck quickly, as Ben Rollins (Lincolnville, ME) led off with a single to right.  After Zak Johnson (East Hampton, CT) reached on an error, Jason Doris (Lincoln, RI) doubled to left, scoring Rollins.  Tucker Root (Middlefield, CT) then lofted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Johnson and making it 2-0, Lyndon.

SJC answered in the bottom of the first.  Joey Murphy led off the inning by reaching on an error.  Hunter Richardson then singled up the middle, and Jared Gagne follwoed with another base hit, scoring Murphy.  Greg Emanuelson then doubled, driving in Richardson and Gagne and making it 3-2, Monks, after one.

After the Hornets went in order in the top of the second, Noah McDaniel walked to lead off the bottom half of the inning.  Luke Johnson then singled and Murphy grounded out, scoring McDaniel in the process.  Johnson came around to score on a Hornet error, extending the SJC lead to 5-2 after two.

Rollins was hit by pitch to start the top of the third inning.  Codi Smith (Hartford, VT), then delivered a one-out single and Doris was hit by pitch, loading the bases.  A passed ball allowed Rollins to score, then Root singled home Smith to cut the Monk lead to 5-4.  Doris later came home on a wild pitch, leaving the game tied at 5-5 heading into the bottom of the third.

SJC  regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth.  Johnson drew a one-out walk, stole second, and scored on Richardson's single back up the middle.  Gagne then walked, and Emanuelson drove in both runners with a single down the left field line, giving SJC a, 8-5 lead through four complete.

Lyndon got one run back in the top of the fifth when Doris led off with a walk and later came around to score on Caleb Laroche's (Franklin, VT) single.  Richardson's solo homer in the bottom of the sixth gave the Monks an insurance run, and the Hornets were unable to mount a threat in the final two innings.

Troy Bogdhan, the third of five pitchers used by SJC, earned the win and Jonathan Rolfe came on to get the final out and pick up the save.  Hornet starter Tyler Davis (Barre, VT) took the loss.

Game 2 - St. Joseph's 10, NVU-Lyndon 5

After Hornet starter Cameron Flinn (Barre, VT) set the Monks down in order in the top of the first inning, Rollins was hit to open the home half.  Doris later laced a two-out double to left, scoring Rollins and giving Lyndon the early lead.

Things quickly went awry for Lyndon in the top of the second.  Simon Gonzolez reached on an error to get things started for the Monks.  Back to back singles from Dylan Fournier and Ronan Chisholm moved Gonzalez around to score and tie the game.  Matthew Martinello then drove in Fournier with a double to left and Chisholm scored when Justin Juliano reached on a fielder's choice.  Singles from Murphy and Richardson scored Chisholm and Martinello.  Richardson later scored when Emanuelson reached on an error.  When the inning finally ended, SJC held a 6-1 advantage.

The Monks added a run in the bottom of the third when Murphy drew a bases loaded walk.  Flinn was able to pitch his way out of further trouble, leaving the Hornets facing a 7-1 deficit through three.

SJC took advantage of a pair of walks and a Hornet error to tack on one more run in the top of the fourth.

Lyndon rallied in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Johnson started things with a one-out single.  Smith followed with another single, then Doris delivered a base hit to left to score Johnson.  Root singled to score Smith, then Laroche singled down the left field line to load the bases.  Noah Barton (South Burlington, VT) delivered Lyndon's sixth straight base hit, scoring Doris and cutting the Monk lead to 8-4 and Chase SJC starter Matt Bergeron.  Nick Iannuzzi relieved Bergeron and got Sam Ognenoff (Brattleboro, VT) to ground into a double play to end the Lyndon threat.

SJC picked up an insurance run in the top of the sixth when Chisholm singled back up the middle with one out and Juliano doubled to score him.  The Hornets plated one run in the bottom half of the inning when Johnson signled, moved to third on a Smith single, and scored on a passed ball.

The Monks scored their final run in the top of the seventh when Kevin Aylward led off the inning with a single, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Mattingly Simaan's ground out.

Bergeron earned the win for SJC, while Flinn took the loss for Lyndon.

The Hornets return to the field next Saturday with a doubleheader at Salem State University.  First pitch is scheduled for noon.