STANDISH, Maine -- The Saint Joseph's College Monks overcame an early three-run deficit, then withstood an eight-inning rally by the University of Southern Maine Huskies to take a 7-6 victory Wednesday afternoon in a non-conference game at Mahaney Field.

            The Monks, ranked 18th in the nation in this week's ABCA Division III poll, won their sixth straight game to improve to 17-2 overall.  The Huskies dropped to 9-9.

            Junior Sam Butts (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) went 3 for 5 with a double and a home run and three RBI to pace the Monks offense.  Sophomore Lincoln Sanborn (Standish, Maine/Bonny Eagle) and junior Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine/Lake Region) each had two hits.  Chase had a key two-run triple to ignite the Monks' four-run, fourth-inning rally that erased the Huskies 4-1 lead, and Sanborn had an RBI double in the seventh that proved to be the winning run.

            Junior Nick Grady (Whitefield, Maine/Erskine) led the Huskies with a double and two singles.  Rookie Jake Glauser (Goffstown, N.H.) hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to pull the Huskies within one.  Sophomore Troy Thibodeau (Danvers, Mass.) had a single and a triple and scored twice.

            Sophomore Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.) started on the hill for the Monks and picked up his third win of the season.  Gruntkosky went six innings allowing six hits and six walks while fanning five.  Junior Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) came into get the final four outs to earn his first save of the season.

            Senior Dustin Stanton (Cornish, Maine/Sacopee Valley) went 5.1 innings and took the loss for the Huskies.

            The Huskies jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single from Grady and a Monks throwing error.  Chase cut the lead in half in the second with a sacrifice fly. 

            Sophomore Matt Verrier (Norway, Maine/Oxford Hills) brought home a run for the Huskies with a sacrifice fly in the third, and junior Tucker White (Deerfield, N.H./Coe-Brown Northwood) expanded the Huskies' lead to 4-1 with another sacrifice fly in the fourth.

            Chase had a two-out, two-run triple in the home half of the fourth, and Chase followed with his first home run of the season to erase the Huskies advantage and give the Monks a 5-4 lead.

            Chase added to the Monks lead in the sixth with a double that brought Sanborn around to score.  Sanborn doubled home sophomore Alex Markakis (Lynnfield, Mass./St. John's Prep) in the seventh to give the Monks a three-run cushion.

            Glauser cut the Huskies deficit to one hitting a two-run homer in the eighth.  The Huskies put two runners on after two were out, but Rafferty came on to get the final out of the eighth, and retired the Huskies in the ninth allowing only a one-out single to sophomore John Carey (South Portland, Maine).

            Southern Maine travels to Salem State University for a single game on Thursday (3:30 p.m.).  Saint Joseph's hosts the University of Maine Presque Isle on Thursday (12:00 p.m.).

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