COLCHESTER, Vt. - Senior Nate Rogers' (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) 10th-inning walk-off home run in game one highlighted the Saint Michael's College baseball team splitting a pair of 7-6 Senior Day decisions with regionally-ranked Bentley University on Saturday during Northeast-10 Conference play at Doc Jacobs Field. Bentley was eighth in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region poll.
 
The Purple Knights, who closed their season, honored five seniors prior to the twinbill, with Rogers joined by Jared Duquette (Morrisonville, N.Y./Saranac), Justin Garcia (Saint Petersburg, Fla./Dixie Hollins), Andrew Lanthier (Orwell, Vt./Fair Haven Union) and Matt Sevigny (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill). During the second game, junior Evan Balian (Lynnfield, Mass./Lynnfield) became the 17th player in program history to reach 100 career hits.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (11-30, 8-19 NE10), Bentley (29-18, 15-12 NE10)

DOUBLEHEADER FACTS

• The Purple Knights matched the 1993 and 2013 teams' school record for NE10 wins, and 11 overall victories are their most since winning 12 in 2013.
• In the 113-year history of Saint Michael's baseball, Rogers is believed to be the 14th player whose lone career extra-base hit went as a home run, but the only Purple Knight among them whose home run was a walk-off.
• Balian is not only the 17th player in program history with 100 career hits, but the third junior to reach the milestone. His is also the third Purple Knight to hit the plateau this year, joining Lanthier and junior Terence Moynihan (Stoneham, Mass./Saint Mary's).
• Junior Max Kolifrath's (Millbury, Mass./Millbury) seven home runs this season matched Kevin Harutunian '06 (2004) and Trevor Allen '19 (2019) for second in program history. Only Tony Gomes '81, who hit eight in 1979, has hit more. Kolifrath is now tied with Nicky Elderton '15 for second in school annals with 10 career dingers, just six shy of Allen's career mark. Kolifrath's 12 doubles this season were one short of George Buteau's '15 nine-year-old program record.
• Lanthier, who will graduate with a school-record 44 career stolen bases, swiped 16 bags this season, within two of Brian Rayder's '93 32-year-old school mark despite missing 13 games.
• Sophomore Keegan Burke (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) struck out 59 batters this season, good for ninth in program history but second since the mid-1940s, short only of Zach Rodgers '21 fanning 60 batters in 2019.
• Saint Michael's went 2-5 against Bentley this season, but two of the losses came by 7-6 finals.

GAME 1
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Garcia, 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 2 SB
• Kolifrath, 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 2B, 1 HR
• Rogers, 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
• Sevigny, 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B
• Sophomore Sam Cavossa (East Falmouth, Mass./The Winchendon School), 2-for-5, 3 RBI
• First-year Trevor Arsenault (Websterville, Vt./Spaulding), 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HP
• Keegan Burke, 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, no-decision
• Sophomore Ryan Canty (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K in relief, win

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Steve Rizzuto, 2-for-6
• Graduate student Tim Zupkus, 3-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR
• Senior Eddy Beauregard, 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HP
• First-year Keegan Antelman, 0+ IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K in relief, loss

THE ACTION

• Bentley scored on a two-out error in the first inning before Garcia's two-out RBI knock tied the game in the home half.
• Cavossa added a two-out, two-run single to put the hosts up 3-1 in the second, but the visitors countered with a pair in the third, tying the game on Zupkus' RBI groundout.
• Kolifrath's solo homer put Saint Michael's back in front in the bottom half.
• The Purple Knights extended their lead to 6-3 thanks to an RBI single from Cavossa and a Balian sac fly in the sixth.
• Zupkus led off the seventh with a home run, and Bentley drew even with two runs in the ninth, both on sac flies.
• In the 10th, Rogers worked his way back from an 0-2 count to full before driving the next pitch over the left center fence for a walk-off home run.

GAME 2
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Balian, 1-for-5, 1 RBI
• Cavossa, 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B
• Moynihan, 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 BB
• First-year Richard Gilboy (South Portland, Maine/South Portland), 1-for-4, 1 R
• First-year Jack Pattison (Vernon, Vt./Vermont Academy), 3 SB
• First-year Dom Tetta (East Northport, N.Y./Northport), 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB
• Sophomore Matt Safer (Essex, Vt./Essex), 6.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, no-decision
• First-year Chris Robinson (Williston, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K in relief, loss

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Rizzuto, 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
• Zupkus, 4-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
• Junior Nick Pappas, 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B
• Sophomore Jack Sokhos Drude, 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K in relief, win

THE ACTION

• Senior Jackson Walonis' two-run single scored the game's first runs in the second inning, but the hosts knotted the game in the home half with a pair of unearned runs, leveling the score on Rogers' sac fly.
• Zupkus and Rizzuto socked solo home runs in the third and fifth innings, respectively.
• Balian singled home Sevigny with two out in the fifth before Cavossa came around with the tying run on a wild pitch.
• Zupkus' two-out RBI single put Bentley back ahead in the seventh, but Cavossa doubled home the tying run in the bottom of the inning before again scoring on a two-out wild pitch to make it 6-5 in favor of the hosts.
• After the first two batters were retired in the ninth, the next five Falcons reached, with Zupkus' RBI single tying the game and the go-ahead run scoring on an error.
• Moynihan led off the home half with a seven-pitch walk, but the next three batters put the ball in the air as Sokhos Drude locked down the win.