MERION STATION, Pa. – A seven-run first inning provided all the offense as the Saint Joseph's baseball team held off Fairfield, 7-6, at Smithson Field on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (5-4) used the longball to great effect in the bottom half of the first, as
Brett Callahan led off with a solo shot to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. After a pair of walks to
Jake Artz and
Nate Thomas,
Andrew Cossetti followed with his team-leading fourth home run of the season to make it a 4-0 game.
•
Brendan Hueth followed with a ground-rule double before
Tim Cavanaugh reached on an error;
Liam Bendo then deposited a ball into the visitors bullpen in right field to make it 7-0 in favor of the home team before an out was recorded.
• Fairfield (3-5) got one back in the second on a solo home run by Matt Zaffino. The Stags would then close within three with a three-run fourth.
• The visitors would tack on a run in the sixth before getting two on with one out in the ninth. A groundout scored a run and brought the tying run to third base, but Bendo made a nice play on a ground ball to the right side to record the final out.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
•
Luke Smith earned the win for the Hawks, improving to 3-0 after allowing four earned runs on eight hits while striking out four in five and two-thirds innings.
Matt McShane tossed two and a third innings of shutout relief without allowing a hit before
Alec Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his second save of the season.
• Jake Noveillo took the loss for Fairfield after facing just nine batters and allowing seven runs on four hits while walking three in a third of an inning.
• Hueth notched three hits on the day, while Cossetti collected a pair.
UP NEXT
The teams will play the rubber game of the series at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
