WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – A four-run sixth-inning by Saint Joseph's (Maine) was the difference maker in the opener of a doubleheader as Suffolk baseball was unable to rally and fell to the Monks, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at Chain of Lakes as part of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | Saint Joseph's (Maine) 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (0-2) | Saint Joseph's (Maine) (3-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Suffolk broke open the scoring in the bottom of the fourth. Cole Hilliard's single to center led off the inning and two batters later designated hitter Sebastian Lampert placed a deep single in right to advance Hilliard to the hot corner. Another two batters later Jack Mihalchik's infield single let Hilliard to come home and give the Rams a 1-0 edge. 
• Harry Meehan found himself in a jam in the top of the fifth as the Monks juiced the bags with three walks. The senior southpaw was backed up by his defense as Colin Flynn gloved a loud out in center off Nic Frink's bat to keep the one-run lead in the blue-and-gold's favor. 
• SJC threatened in its next turn at the plate as it had a runner on third with no outs. Meehan sat down Connor Finn looking to put the first run of the frame on the board. That was the last batter of Meehan's day and Jack Raimo came in to take over. Nick Villano's full-count base hit through the left side brought in the tying run to make it a 1-all game. The script flipped in the Monks favor thanks to a walk and back-to-back base hits, which allowed three more runs to came in to put the Rams in a 4-1 hole. 
• The Rams managed to make up some ground in the home half of the inning. Hilliard got on behind an erratic through by the Monks' backstop Frink. The fifth-year first baseman worked his way to second when Luke Thornton worked a base on balls and Hilliard came around on Mihalchik's second through the left side to trim the gap to two, 4-2.
• Saint Joseph's (Maine) stranded one runner in the top of the seventh to keep the distance at two. The Rams went down in order, however, and the Monks secured the victory. 

PITCHERS PICTURE

• Raimo took the loss as he gave up three runs on five hits and one walk over 1.2 innings of relief. 
• Meehan compiled a one-run, three-hit, four-walk, five-strikeout performance over 5.1 frames. 
• Dylan Brander shoved a five-hit, two-run (one-earned), one-walk, four-strikeout, complete-game.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Mihalchik went 2-for-3 with two RBI to lead Suffolk's offense. 
• Hilliard scored both Rams runs and added one hit. 
• Lampert and Ross Treubig added one hit apiece. 
• Thornton was responsible for the blue-and-gold's lone walk of the afternoon. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Saint Joseph's (Maine) met for the first time since April 21, 2024. 
• The foes played a neutral diamond for the first time since March 15, 2024. 
• Mihalchik matched a career-high two hits. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk looks to bounce back in the nightcap against the Monks.