AMCATS Downed by St. Joe's in GNAC Tourney

East Providence, R.I. -- The top seeded St. Joseph's of Maine baseball team advanced to the finals of the 2012 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship with a 6-3 victory over third seeded Anna Maria at Pierce Field on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams played through two scoreless innings before Anna Maria got on the board with a solo home run by junior Patrick Gilman (Leominster, Mass.) in the bottom of the third.  The AMCats added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by sophomore John Sullivan (Southbury, Conn.) to make the score 2-0.  St. Joseph's of Maine knotted the game at 2-2 on a two-run single by freshman Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.).  Sophomore Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.) put the Monks up 3-2 on a solo home run in the top of the sixth.  Anna Maria responded in the bottom of the sixth when they capitalized on a miscue by St. Joseph's to knot the game at 3-3.  St. Joseph's regained the lead in the top of the eighth when junior Nate Martin (Chebeague Island, Maine) scored on a squeeze bunt by senior Dan Brown (Portland, Maine), making the score 4-3.  The Monks added two more in the ninth, including an RBI single by Coyne en route to the 6-3 victory. 

Coyne was 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI while Lorenc recorded three hits in the win for the Monks.

With the loss Anna Maria is now 22-15 while St. Joseph's improves to 34-5 for the year.  The Monks will return to action on Sunday, April 29^th when they take on the winner of the Suffolk vs. Anna Maria elimination game in the finals of the tournament.

Release courtesy of Johnson & Wales Sports Information