SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team opened the 2016 season on Friday, falling to #15 Michigan, 5-1, before coming from behind to top UC-Davis, 10-8, in the second game of the day. Both games were held at Santa Clara's Stephen Schott Stadium as part of the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament.
In their first contest of the new season, the Hawks met up with Michigan; despite three hits from freshman Charlie Concannon, the Hawks fell to the Wolverines, 5-1.
Both pitchers were on the mark early, as a two-out double by Concannon in the bottom of the second provided the game's first baserunner. Unfortunately for the Hawks, the freshman was left stranded after his first collegiate hit and the game remained scoreless.
Pat Vanderslice was perfect through three innings on the mound, but Michigan (5-0) broke through in the fourth. After a leadoff walk was erased by a double play, Carmen Benedetti's solo home run put the Wolverines on top, 1-0.
Michigan increased the lead in the sixth, loading the bases with one out for Drew Lugbauer, who singled in a pair to make it a 3-0 game. Justin Aungst then came in from the bullpen and induced a double play on his second pitch to limit the damage.
Saint Joseph's (1-1) threatened in the sixth, as Cal Jadacki led off with a single and the Hawks placed runners on the corners with two outs, but reliever Michael Hendrickson escaped the frame with a lineout from Charlie Coghlin to keep the Hawks at bay.
The Wolverines extended the lead in the ninth as Harrison Wenson went deep with a runner on to up the margin to 5-0.
Matt Maul was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth and came around to score on a single by Concannon, but Mac Lozer stranded runners on second and third to preserve the win for the Wolverines.
Ryan Nutof earned the win and improved to 2-0 allowing three hits in five shutout innings. Vanderslice took the loss after he was charged with three runs on five hits in five and a third innings.
In the second game, Brian Lau recorded a home run and a save, and Deon Stafford, Jr., hit the go-ahead home run in the eighth inning as the Hawks beat UC-Davis, 10-8.
With the Aggies on top, 7-6, Peter Sitaras led off the top of the eighth with a walk and moved to second on a single by Jadacki. Stafford followed with his first home run of the season and the Hawks' third of the day to give SJU a 9-7 lead.
Alex Aguiar got UC-Davis (2-5) back within one with a longball of his own in the bottom of the inning, but Lau was hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth and came around to score on another single by Jadacki to restore the two-run cushion. The junior then made his first collegiate pitching appearance and worked around a walk and a single to record the save.
The Hawks jumped out to an early lead as Stafford's one-out single was followed by a home run to center field by John Brue in the top of the first. Lau then led off the second with a shot to left center to extend the lead.
After a single, a walk, and a wild pitch, Brue and Jadacki found themselves on second and third, respectively, with two outs in the fifth. Maul then laced a single to center to score both runs and push the SJU lead to 5-0.
The Aggies struck back with three of their own in the bottom of the inning, taking advantage of three hits and an error to climb back with a pair at 5-3.
The teams traded runs in the sixth, as Lau was hit by a pitch, ended up on third after a pair of wild pitches, and came in to score on an error. However, an RBI groundout by Garret Kelly closed UCD back to within two.
UC-Davis took its first lead of the day in the seventh. Consecutive hits from Ryan Anderson and Mark Cardinalli tied the game, and Mason Novak sacrifice fly put the Aggies on top, 7-6. The lead would be short-lived, however, as the Hawks went ahead for good just a half-inning later.
Freshman Lucas Rollins allowed three unearned runs on seven hits in four and two-thirds innings but did not factor into the decision in his collegiate debut. Darren Weidman tossed two innings of relief to earn the win for SJU, while Matt Blais allowed four runs in an inning and a third to take the loss for the Aggies.
Concannon finished the day 5-for-8 in his first two collegiate games, driving in a run, while Jadacki was 5-for-9 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Saint Joseph's continues play in the tournament on Saturday, taking on the host Santa Clara Broncos at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
