Drury Preaches Patience In Win Over St. Joe's
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury baseball team just might be turning the corner at the midway point of the season. The Blue Devils put in their second straight solid outing on Monday, using an eight-run fourth inning to pull away for a 10-2 home win over Saint Joseph's.Patience at the plate and execution on defense have been Drury's two main concerns in a 4-5 start this season. Al Marceau's club did a good job in both departments on Monday, though, reaching base with six walks and two hit batters and limiting the damage caused by three defensive errors.
"We played much better baseball tonight," Marceau said. "Defensively, we had one shaky inning but were able to right the ship and play much better behind Robert [Jutras]. Offensively, we really worked their starter through the early innings. I was happy that we really didn't chase many pitches that were out of the zone. I think if we could get a little more consistency top to bottom we would be a dangerous offense."
Jutras picked his first victory of the season, allowing just one unearned run and one walk through six innings of work. He struck out six batters working with senior catcher Slayter Aubin, who helped Jutras improve his record to 1-3 this season.
"I thought Jutras threw a great game," Marceau said. "He was very efficient with only a single walk, and he did a nice job of mixing up his pitches. I felt Slayter worked well with Robert on locating pitches in the strike zone. They really moved the ball around and kept St. Joe's off balance for most of the night."
The Blue Devils did all of their damage in just two innings, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first before breaking out for eight more runs in the fourth. The hosts led just 2-1 when the Crusaders (3-7) opened the door for a big inning by walking three batters, hitting another and making two costly errors. All of that set the table for senior Joel Giorgi, who brought three runs home with a bases-clearing double down the left-field line. Aubin also had a great day at the plate, going 2-or-2 with a double, triple and two RBIs.
In the past two games, both wins for Drury, Aubin is 5-for-6 with five RBIs and four runs scored.
"Offensively, Aubin and Giorgi really stepped up today," Marceau said. "I'm really proud and happy for Joel. He struggled last week, and it was great to see hime come through in that spot for his team."
Giorgi closed things out for the Devils' pitching staff, allowing one unearned run in the top of the seventh to lock up the win. Drury next plays at Pittsfield at 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday.