Bears Outlast Staten Island in Marathon Battle

STATEN ISLAND, NY – In a game that lasted 12 innings and three hours and 45 minutes, the longest in program history, the St. Joseph's College baseball team defeated the College of Staten Island, 5-4, in the opener of a non-conference twinbill on Thursday night at the CSI Baseball Complex.  CSI led from the outset in the nightcap to earn a split, 9-1.

In the opener, Staten Island native Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) beat a play at the plate on an Alvaro Quinones (Brooklyn, NY/Bishop Loughlin) grounder for the game winner.  Diaz also stroked a triple in the 10th inning that gave the Bears a two-run advantage.  St. Joseph's leading hitter knocked two more hits in the nightcap to finish 4-for-8 for the series.

Danny Contant (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) hurled seven spirited innings in his home borough, giving up two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in the no-decision.  Freshman Paul Piccirillo (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) earned his first career win in relief, going the final five innings giving up two runs (one earned), allowing eight hits, striking out three.

Keith Juricich (San Mateo, CA/Serra) picked up three hits with a stolen base in game one.

It is St. Joseph's first extra-innings win in six opportunities all-time.  For the second straight year, St. Joseph's has split a twinbill with Staten Island after taking the first game of the series.

St. Joseph's returns to the diamond on Saturday, April 17 facing Polytechnic Institute of NYU for a non-conference doubleheader at Floyd Bennett Field starting at noon.

Game 1 – St. Joseph's 5, Staten Island 4 (12 innings)

In the exciting opener, both teams matched each other step for step from start to finish.  The Bears took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Anthony Langone (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic) singled to center to deliver Chris Davidson (San Carlos, CA/Carlmont) who led off with a single.  Staten Island would match in the bottom half of the frame with a leadoff walk by Cory Sullivan who then stole second and third and was sacrificed home by Matt Oetting.

The Dolphins jumped ahead 2-1 in the fourth after loading the bases with only one out.  Starter Contant issued a free pass to Henry Roman to score Mark Glennerster, but managed a fly out and a strikeout to minimize the damage at one run facing the heart of the CSI lineup.

The Bears equalized the game in the sixth after Diaz hit a single and stole second, advancing to third on a throwing error on the attempt.  Two batters later, Davidson hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game 2-2, where it remained through the end of regulation.

In the third extra inning, Joe Geloso (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) drew a leadoff walk.  CSI committed an error on the force play to put runners on first and second and Diaz capitalized with a triple down the left field line to give St. Joe's a 4-2 lead.  However, Staten Island would match the mark with a two-out rally with the top of the lineup knocking four straight hits with a Bears miscue allowing the tying run to score.

In the 11th inning, both teams managed to advance runners to third base, but neither would be able to deliver them home.

In the 12th, Diaz drew a leadoff walk and stole second, again advancing to third on a throwing error.  Two batters later, Quinones, who entered the game for Davidson in the 10th, hit a grounder to second but the throw home to catch Diaz would not be in time, which would hold up for the game-winner.  Piccirillo gave up leadoff single in the bottom half, but retired the next three batters, two by strikeout, for the win.

Game 2 – Staten Island 9, St. Joseph's 1

The nightcap would play out differently than the thrilling opener with Staten Island taking a 4-0 lead in the first inning, which would be all the run support they needed.  The Dolphins reached starter Chris Coffey for five hits in the opening frame, scoring on RBI singles by Henry Roman, Tom DiPietro, Mark Glennerster and a sacrifice fly by Cory Sullivan.  One of the runs came unearned on one of three Bears' miscues for the game. 

The Bears threatened in the top half of the frame loading the bases with no outs, but failed to produce any runs.  St. Joseph's knocked on the door in the third and fourth innings, advancing runners to third, but were left stranded, the Bears stranding nine and the Dolphins defense turning three double plays for the game.

Staten Island added a single run in the fourth and four more runs in the fifth.  Only four of the nine runs came earned to the Bears pitchers.

St. Joseph's scored their lone run after a pair of leadoff walks to Joe Geloso (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) and Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood).  Geloso advanced to third on a double play and then scored on a wild pitch.

Coffey (0-3) took the loss for St. Joseph's giving up six runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits, striking out one and walking six.  James Mardikos earned the victory for Staten Island tossing six innings of four-hit ball, allowing only one run.