Courtesy Williams Sports Information

HARWICH, Mass. - Williams kept its postseason alive with a 12-7 victory over seventh-seeded St. Joseph's in an elimination game on Thursday morning at the NCAA Division III New England Regional. The third-seeded Ephs move on to face the loser of No. 6 Western New England vs. No. 2 Eastern Connecticut State in another elimination game Thursday night at 8 p.m.

"We swung the bats well today," senior Ryan Fote said. "We also were able to keep our pitching staff healthy so we are going to have rested arms going forward, which is important. The vibe on the team is very positive right now. We know we're a good team. We just have to go out there and prove it game-by-game."

After St. Joseph's cut a seven-run lead to just three with a rally in the bottom in the seventh, Williams added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to seal the win. Fote and first-year Robin Allemand led off the inning with a pair of singles and advanced to third and second on a double steal. One out later, St. Joseph's opted to intentionally walk Williams' No. 3 batter, senior Chris Kenney, loading the bases

. Senior Paul Morgan then came up big for the Ephs, driving in a pair with a single to left, making it 12-7, Ephs. The Ephs outslugged the Monks to earn the win. Williams pounded out 18 hits on the day, five for extra bases. Morgan, batting in the clean-up spot, led the Ephs with his 3-for-6 effort. He hit a two-run homer, had five RBIs, three coming with two outs, and scored a run. Rookie Chad Brown racked up four hits on the day, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored. Fote, who earned the win on the mound for the Ephs, also got it done at the plate. He was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Williams improved to 26-9 with the win, while St. Joseph's ends its season at 30-12.

The Ephs scored five runs over the first two innings to take a comfortable lead. With one-out and junior James DiCosmo standing on first base, Morgan knocked a double to right to put Williams on top 1-0. Senior Sean Gleeson then brought Morgan around to score on another double to right.

St. Joseph's got one back in the bottom of the first. After a one-out error allowed martin to reach, Luke Enman singled to right to put runners on the corners. Dustin Spiller then drove in Keil Martin with a sacrifice fly to leftfield.

Leading 2-1, the Ephs added to their lead in the top of the second. Brown and junior Kevin Flynn sparked the rally with back-to-back singles to open the inning. Fote then laid down a bunt for an infield single, loading the bases. After Allemand flew out to left for the first out of the inning, DiCosmo singled to left for an RBI. One out later, Morgan then drove in two more with a single to right. Trailing 5-1, St. Joseph's went to the bullpen, bringing in Mike Burdin for starter Ben Cutter, who was able to end the threat by inducing a groundout to second.

St. Joseph's answered with another lone run in the bottom half of the second. Ben Grant-Roy and Andrew Wood led off the inning with back-to-back singles to center, but the Ephs turned-two on a grounder to short by Chris Doughty to erase a pair of baserunners. With two outs and a man on third, a wild pitch by Eph hurler Fote allowed a run to score, making it 5-2. A single by Wade Oliver sandwiched between walks to Brian Schools and Keil Martin loaded the bases, but Fote escaped the jam by retiring Enman on a groundout.

The Ephs extended their lead in the fifth. With one down, junior Max Pinto doubled to right. Brown moved him up with a single to right, then stole second to put runners on second and third with one out. Flynn knocked in a run with a single to left before Fote plated another with a single to right, making it 7-2. Williams got one more on an Allemand infield single before St. Joseph's made another pitching change, calling on Andrew Pooler, who retired the first two batters he faced to get out of the inning.

A lead-off solo shot by Spiller in the bottom half of the fifth cut the Eph lead to 8-3.

After a scoreless sixth, Williams scored another pair in the top of the seventh. Brown led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a throwing error. Two outs later, Allemand kept the inning alive by walking. After Brown and Allemand advanced on a pair of steals, DiCosmo walked to load the bases. Kenney singled in Brown with a hardhit ball to the shortstop and an error allowed Allemand to come around for the Ephs' 10th run of the game, making it 10-3.

St. Joseph's roared back for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Eph lead to 10-7. With one out, Mark Clapp reached on an infield single. After Grant-Roy and Wood drew a pair of walks, Doughty knocked Fote from the game with a double to left, knocking in two runs and leaving runners on the corners with one out. Senior Cory Catelli came on in relief of Fote and walked Ricky Sarmento, pinch-hitting for Schools. Oliver then hit a sacrifice fly to right knock in Wood and make it 10-6. An error by Catelli allowed Doughty to scamper home with the fourth run of the inning. But the Ephs finally got out of the mess, catching Sarmento attempting to move to third on a single by Martin for the third out of the inning.

Fote went 6 1/3 for the Ephs, giving up seven runs, only five earned, on 11 hits and six walks. The effort was enough to earn him his 7th win of the season, as he improved to 7-0 on the year. Catelli shutout St. Joseph's in 2 2/3 innings of relief. He gave up just two hits, walking one and striking out the last batter of the contest.

Five St. Joseph's batters had multiple hits on the day. Spiller led the way, going 2-for-4 with a homer, a run scored, and two RBIs. Grant-Roy also had a productive day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

Cutter lasted 1 2/3 innings in his start, giving up five runs, all earned, on seven hits and a walk. Entering the game in the second, Burdin pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief, surrendering three runs, all earned, on five hits and two walks. Pooler also tossed 2 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits and two walks, striking out one. Andrew Kierstead threw the final two innings for the Monks, allowing two runs, both earned, on four hits and a walk.