COTE St. LUC, Que -- Shortstop Troy Shepherd, a 19-year-old Arts freshman from Boston, Mass., went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and scored a pair of runs as the three-time defending national champion McGill Redmen opened their regular season with a resounding 15-5 victory over the division-leading Montreal Carabins in the Canadian Collegiate Baseball Association, Tuesday, at Gary Carter Field in Trudeau Park.

Montreal's five-game win streak was snapped after the Redmen pounded out 11 hits in an abbreviated game as the mercy rule was invoked. They scored four runs in the first inning, one in the second, three in the third, six in the fourth and one more in the fifth.

Shepherd, a 5-foot-10, 170-pound infielder, doubled in the bottom of the first inning, then singled in the second, third, and fourth. Jack Pantalena, an economics junior from Easton, Conn., was the only other multi-hit player for the Redmen, going 2-for-3, with a walk, two RBIs and a run scored.

McGill opened an early 4-0 lead in the first inning when a Jonathan Duforest sacrifice fly cashed in Andre Lagarde. Then Jared Kersh drove home Shepherd to make it 2-0, followed by a two-run double from Pantalena, which scored Kersh and Camden Lawhead.

The Carabins roared back with five runs in the top of the second, only to see the Redmen even the score at 5-5 when Largade scored on a double-play ball by Duforest. McGill took an unsurmountable 8-5 lead in the third inning when Jake Guggenheimer, Titouan Delorme and Benji Kaiserman each walked, followed by Lagarde's run-producing fielder's choice and a two-run single by Shepherd.

The Redmen added six more in the fourth. They loaded the bases with two hit batsmen (Kersh and Lawhead), followed by walks to Pantalena and Guggenheimer, A fielder's choice by Kaiserman made it 10-5, followed by a two-run single to centre by Shepherd and a two-run double by Duforest.

Starter Rocky Hroch collected the win, giving up no earned runs on two hits in three innings of work. He walked four and struck out one. Reliever Henry Dennis pitched the final two innings, conceding a pair of hits and striking out three.

For the Carabins, starter Thomas Patrice took the loss, allowing 11 earned runs in three innings of work. He walked five, hit two more and struck out two.

McGill (1-0), which posted an impressive 9-3-1 record in preseason play, will host Concordia on Wednesday (Sept. 13) at 7:30 p.m.

LINK TO BOXSCORE
 

2017 CCBA NORTHERN DIVISION STANDINGS
(updated)
TEAM	W	L	DIFF
Montreal	5	1
Carleton	3	0	1.0
McGill	1	0	3.0
Concordia	0	1	5.0
Ottawa	0	5	9.0

SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012