MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team scored in five of its eight offensive innings on Saturday afternoon, blowing the game open in with a five-run eighth en route to a 10-2 win over Dayton at Smithson Field.
Jordan Carter followed up his record-tying outing last week with another fine performance. The senior went the distance, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out eight and walking just one. Over his last 17 innings of work, the righthander has fanned 23 batters while walking just one.
Carter recorded two quick outs in the first, but Dayton (17-19 overall, 9-6 Atlantic 10) got on the board after a two-run home run to left by Ryan Berry.
Saint Joseph's (21-10 overall, 10-4 Atlantic 10) equalized in the bottom half of the inning, as Chris Hueth led off with a double and scored on a single by Brian O'Keefe. Later in the inning, Stefan Kancylarz ripped a single through the right side to score O'Keefe and knot the game at 2-2.
The Hawks took the lead for good in the third as Collin Forgey led off with a ground-rule double and scored on a single by Mike Muha. Taylor Boyd then led off the fourth with a double and scored on Forgey's second double of the game to extend the lead to 4-2.
Kancylarz notched his second RBI of the game in the seventh, as Tommy Cunningham doubled with one out and came in to score on Kancylarz's single to make it a 5-2 game.
SJU blew the game open in the eighth, batting around and tacking five runs onto the lead. John Brue led off with a triple and scored on a single by Boyd. Hueth and O'Keefe were hit by pitches to load the bases. After a wild pitch plated Boyd, Forgey tripled to right for his third extra-base hit of the game, bringing home Hueth and O'Keefe to extend the lead to 9-2. Muha then singled home Forgey to close out the scoring.
Carter settled in after the first, retiring 10 in a row at one point in the middle innings, to improve to 6-3 with his second complete game of the season.
Charlie Dant took the loss for Dayton, allowing four runs on eight hits in three-plus innings, to fall to 4-4 on the season.
The Hawks will now head to Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night to face La Salle in the Liberty Bell Classic championship game. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.; tickets will be on sale for $5 at the First Base Gate at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night.
