Saint Joseph's (10-7, 3-1 GNAC) handled Husson University (13-10, 1-3 NAC), 8-4, in the Monks 2009 home opener at Larry Mahaney Diamond on Wednesday. Kevin Chamberlain '11 (Scarborough, ME) took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and allowed two hits, two earned runs and two walks with six strikeouts to earn his first collegiate victory. The Monks rattled off 13 hits and Pat Moran '10 (Winterport, ME) thumped his first long ball of the year, a three-run blast in the bottom of the sixth inning, in the triumph.

After sitting 21 straight, Chamberlain's no-hitter bid came to an end in the eighth inning, when Eagles third baseman Jake Arthurs '12 (Belfast, ME) led off with an infield single, narrowly beating out Dan Achorn's '12 (Bow, NH) throw from deep short. St. Joe's scored two runs in the first inning, one in both the second and third, and four in the sixth. Husson scored all four of their runs in the eighth, three coming off a Nick Arthers '09 (Belfast, ME) home run with two out.

St. Joe's led 2-0 after three hitters had stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first. Wade Oliver '09 (Owls Head, ME) led off the bottom of the first by lacing a double to deep left center and #2 hitter Chris Campbell '11 (Rochester, NH) traded places with him to give the Monks a 1-0 lead. Catcher Ian Lee '11 (Hampden, ME) singled to send Campbell home and cap the first frame scoring.

To start the second inning, Husson starter Ryan Arsenault '11 (Portland, ME) issued a walk to Todd Keneborus '11 (Hollis Center, ME/Cheverus), who moved to third when the next batter, Achorn, singled up the middle. Keneborus scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Oliver to extend the SJC lead to 3-0.

Arsenault found himself in trouble again in the third frame, but managed to escape with minimal damage. Campbell led off the inning with a single, Lee followed with a double and Ben Grant-Roy '10 (Biddeford, ME) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out. Campbell scored on a passed ball before the bases were quickly reloaded with Monks, as Arsenault plunked Eric LaBatte '11 (Rochester, NH) after fanning Moran. St. Joe's was unable to produce the big hit to break the game open, however, as the Eagles' southpaw whiffed Keneborus and induced a groundball from Achorn to end the scoring threat with St. Joe's up, 4-0.

Five zeroes were posted on the scoreboard before the Monks put up four runs in the sixth to take an 8-0 lead. Second baseman Mike Burdin '10 (Gardiner, ME) singled, stole second, advanced to third on an Oliver fly-out to center and scored on a fielder's choice from Lee. Campbell, who reached via base on balls, Lee and Grant-Roy, who also walked, all scored on Moran's blast to left-center to put the Royal Blue up 8-0, and provide Chamberlain with more than enough breathing room.

The SJC right-hander continued to look strong in the seventh and seemed unfazed by the fact that he had held the Eagles, who just yesterday notched 16 hits and throttled Bates College 13-1, without a base knock through six innings. Chamberlain hit Nick Arthers with a pitch to start the inning, but Jeff Miller '09 (Veazie, ME) flew out to left and Matt Archetti '12 (Chester, MA) and Tom Crews '11 (Bangor, ME) both struck out to keep the no-no intact.

Jake Arthers led off the bottom of the eighth inning by hitting a grounder to Achorn's right at short. The rookie infielder fielded the ball cleanly and made a strong throw to Grant-Roy at first, but Arthers hustled down the line and was ruled safe on a bang-bang play. Chamberlain forced Husson second baseman to pop-out to Campbell at second for the first out, but left the game after Kyle Vanidestine '12 (Bangor, ME) lined a single to left.

Chris Nanof '10 (Clinton, MA) relieved Chamberlain and uncorked a wild pitch on his third delivery to the plate, which send both Eagles runners scrambling to the next base. Nanof struck out Husson shortstop Ethan Guerrette '11 (Wales, ME) for the second out of the frame, but the next hitter, Chris Maguire '11 (Bucksport, ME), singled just past the reach of Campbell to plate the first run for the visitors. Nick Arthurs followed with the three-run bomb to left, closing out the game scoring with the Monks on top, 8-4.

Chamberlain, 1-1 in 2009, fell six outs shy of tossing the third no-hitter in program history. Chris Holt (1999-00) was the first Monks pitcher to record a no-no when he defeated the University of Maine-Farmington 1-0 on April 11th, 1999. The last no-hitter was hurled by Matt Vasil '95 when he shut down University of Maine-Presque Isle in a 13-0 win on April 15th, 2005.

For St. Joe's, Oliver was 2-4 with a run and an RBI, Campbell went 2-4 with two runs and an RBI and Lee extended his multiple-hit streak to six games, having gone 2-4 with a run and two RBI's in the victory. Moran was 2-5 with the three-run blast and Achorn went 2-4 to raise his season average to .395 (15-38). SJC southpaw Chris Dion '11 (Lawrence, MA) worked an inning in relief and allowed one hit while fanning a pair of Eagles.

For Husson, Vanidestine, Maguire, Archetti and the Arthers brothers, Nick and Jake, all had one hit apiece. Arsenault, now 1-3 on the season, surrendered eight earned runs and 10 hits while walking and striking out five batters to take the loss. Righty Nathan Adams '12 (Frankfort, ME) fanned four and allowed three hits in 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Saint Joseph's will play host to GNAC foe Rivier College on Saturday, April 4th with the first game of a twin bill beginning at 2:00 PM. Husson will host Lyndon State in a NAC doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 PM.