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New England College

Corey O'Day
Photo: Frank Poulin
Corey O'Day
1
New England Col. NEC 4-12, 1-2 GNAC
2
Winner Saint Joseph (Conn.) USJ 10-7, 2-0 GNAC
New England Col. NEC
4-12, 1-2 GNAC
1
Final
2
Saint Joseph (Conn.) USJ
10-7, 2-0 GNAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
New England Col. NEC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 7 1
Saint Joseph (Conn.) USJ 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X 2 5 0

W: A. LaRose (3-1) L: O'Day, Corey (0-2) S: Z. Thielen (4)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Edged by USJ in Pitching Duel

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The New England College baseball team was handed a tough-luck loss on Tuesday, falling 2-1 to the University of Saint Joseph in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action. 

THE BASICS 
Score: New England College 1, Saint Joseph 2 
Records: Pilgrims 4-12, 1-2 GNAC | Blue Jays 10-7, 2-0 GNAC 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

  • NEC senior pitcher Corey O'Day (Nashua, N.H.) dominated for the Pilgrims, not allowing his first hit until the bottom of the fourth inning. The Blue Jays countered with freshman starter Aaron LaRose (Hinesburg, Vt.) who conceded just two hits, himself, across the first four frames. 
  • The 'Grims put two on base in the fifth on singles by junior outfielder Ryan Cote (Goffstown, N.H.) and senior outfielder Kyle Dobrie (Mastic, N.Y.), however a pick-off and a double play ball ended the inning. USJ had a two-hit bottom of the fifth inning, but O'Day got out of the inning unscathed. 
  • In the top of the sixth, graduate utilityman Bryce Worth (Southington, Conn.) hit a two-out single but was unable to be brought home. In the bottom-half of the inning, Saint Joseph had runners on first and second with just one out, but O'Day forced the 6-4-3 double play to send a scoreless game into the seventh.  
  • The Blue Jays again put two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, this time using a double steal to have runners at second and third with just one out. O'Day struck out Chase Belisle (Wolcott, Conn.) for the second out of the inning. Joe Gratta (Bristol, Conn.) hit a grounder to shortstop which was fielded cleanly by Worth, but the throw to first was low allowing both runs to score. 
  • Trailing 0-2 entering the ninth, the 'Grims quickly loaded the bases after a leadoff double by graduate infielder Johnny Cannavo (Weymouth, Mass.) was followed by a walk of Worth and a hard-hit single by freshman Jaken Pellerin (Manchester, N.H.). Two batters later, junior outfielder Harold Martinez (Wethersfield, Conn.) worked a walk to score Cannavo and make it a one-run ballgame. The 'Grims would be unable to push across the tying run as the Blue Jays recorded a strikeout and a groundout to end the game. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

  • LaRose earned the win for USJ after going eight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. Sophomore Zach Thielen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) held on in the ninth inning for his GNAC-leading fourth save of the season. 
  • O'Day was fantastic for the 'Grims, going seven innings with zero earned runs. Over the past two years, O'Day has held the Blue Jays to just two earned runs across 13 innings of work – good for a 1.38 ERA - with nine strikeouts 
  • NEC outhit USJ, 7-5, with the costly seventh inning error making the biggest difference. 
  • Cannavo went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. The graduate student has hit an extra-base hit in three straight games and leads the team in both batting average and on-base percentage. 
  • The Blue Jays were finding success in the running game, stealing five bags to the Pilgrims' zero. 

UP NEXT 

  • NEC is back on the field on Sunday when they face off against Mitchell College for a GNAC matchup at 1:00 PM. 
  • USJ plays their next game at home tomorrow against Westfield State in non-conference action. 

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

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