LYNN, Mass. — Zach Begin pitched a five-hitter with seven strikeouts and Noah McDaniel hit a two-run single Saturday as second-seeded St. Joseph’s advanced to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference baseball championship game with a 3-1 victory against top-seeded Suffolk at Fraser Field.
The Monks (30-10) will play third-seeded Johnson & Wales (26-14) for the title at noon Sunday. If they lose, a final game would immediately follow in the double-elimination event. St. Joseph’s has beaten Johnson & Wales in their three meetings this season, all by one run.
McDaniel hit a two-run single in a three-run first inning. Begin allowed five walks and struck out seven.
Joe Murphy added two hits for St. Joseph’s.
BATES SWEEPS BOWDOIN: Noah Loughlin drove in four runs, including two on a single in a five-run second inning as the Bobcats (19-14, 9-3 NESCAC) rolled to an 11-1 win over the Polar Bears (6-23-2, 3-9) in the second game at Brunswick.
Dan Truli added a two-run single in the inning.
Loughlin’s fourth RBI, a sacrifice fly in the fourth, put Bates ahead 8-1.
Brandon Lopez hit an RBI double in the third for Bowdoin.
In the opener, Christian Beal went 4 for 4 with a double and two RBI, and Justin Foley pitched a four-hit shutout, striking out five, to lead Bates to a 6-0 victory.
MAINE, STONY BROOK SPLIT: Danny Casals broke a 3-3 tie with a solo home run in the eighth inning as the Black Bears (12-27, 8-8 America East) beat the Seawolves (25-18, 14-6) in the opener at Orono.
Maine trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, but Caleb Kerbs tied it with a sacrifice fly, scoring Joe Bramant.
Stony Brook won the second game 5-3 behind a three-run homer in the third inning from Chris Hamilton.
Colin Ridley went 2 for 3 for Maine.
TUFTS SWEEPS COLBY: Peter DeMaria broke a 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the sixth inning, and the Jumbos (26-7, 10-2 NESCAC) broke the game open with a four-run ninth on its way to a 7-2 win over the Mules (10-18, 0-12) in the second game at Waterville.
Matt Mitchell had three hits for Colby, including an RBI triple in the ninth.
Harrison Frickman went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer in the fourth as Tufts won the opener, 10-1.
SOUTHERN MAINE SWEEPS PLYMOUTH STATE: Devin Warren blasted a three-run homer and Andrew Hillier added a two-run shot, both in the first inning, as the Huskies (31-5, 14-2 Little East), ranked third nationally, beat the Panthers (14-22, 5-11) 17-5 in the second game of a doubleheader at Gorham.
Jake Dexter hit a two-run homer in the third and the Huskies tacked on six runs in the fourth to make it 16-1.
In the first game, Zach Quintal went 4 for 5, including a three-run triple during a six-run eighth to lead USM to a 10-3 victory.
SOUTHERN MAINE CC WINS TITLE: Caleb Burpee hit a two-run double in a four-run third inning as the top-seeded Seawolves (29-7) beat second-seeded College of St. Joseph’s (14-12) 5-1 in seven innings in the Yankee Small College tournament at Old Orchard Beach.
Earlier in the day, Dylan Francoeur homered in the first inning and the Seawolves beat the fifth-seeded Great Bay CC (6-10) 7-2 in the semifinals.
SOFTBALL
WILLIAMS 6, BATES 2: Casey Pelz hit a two-run single to cap a six-run fifth inning, giving the Ephs (32-4), top-ranked in the NESCAC West, a 6-0 lead over Bates (15-21), second-ranked in the East, in the completion of a suspended quarterfinal at Medford, Massachusetts.
Eliza McNulty lifted a two-run homer for Bates in the seventh.
Williams, which followed the victory over Bates with a 5-4 semifinal win against Amherst, advances to Sunday’s 10 a.m. title game against Tufts.
MAINE, STONY BROOK SPLIT: Alyssa Derrick, Kelby Drews and Maddie Decker homered for the Black Bears (12-29, 4-13 America East) during a 7-3 victory over Stony Brook (29-17, 11-7) in the first game at Orono.
Derrick’s homer in the third inning made it 3-3. Drews’ solo shot in the fourth broke that tie. Decker then started a three-run rally in the sixth with her homer.
In the second game, Melissa Rahrich pitched a two-hit shutout in Stony Brook’s 5-0 victory.
ENDICOTT 8, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND 0: The top-ranked Gulls (31-5) reached the Commonwealth Coast Conference final by beating the Nor’easters (26-15, 12-4) at Beverly, Massachusetts. The teams will meet for the title at 2 p.m. Sunday.
AMHERST 4, BOWDOIN 0: Lorena Ukanwa threw a two-hittert and Alyson Plaman broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the sixth inning as the third-seeded Mammoths (20-10) topped the second-seeded Polar Bears (26-11) in the NESCAC quarterfinals at Medford, Massachusetts.
Sage Innerarity followed with a two-run single to put Amherst ahead 3-0.
Ukanwa struck out nine and walked one.
Audrey Hansen added an RBI double in the seventh to make it 4-0.
Kasey Cunningham and Maddie Rouhana had hits for Bowdoin.
NEW HAMPSHIRE TI 2, SOUTHERN MAINE CC 1: Top-seeded NHTI (23-5) beat the second-seeded Seawolves (11-7) in the Yankee Small College Conference final at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Earlier in the day, the Seawolves downed fifth-seeded CMCC (0-13) 13-5 in six innings in the semifinals.
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
SOUTHERN MAINE 15, WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE 9: Lindsey Keenan scored three goals and assisted on a fourth as the second-seeded Huskies (10-5, 6-1) opened a 9-1 lead over the opening 15 minutes of their Little East Conference semifinal against third-seeded Western Connecticut State (14-5, 5-2) at Laconia, New Hampshire.
Southern Maine advanced to the final at top-seeded and two-time defending league champion Plymouth State at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Aliza Jordan of USM had five goals, an assist, five ground balls and four draw controls. Keenan added four goals and an assist.
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