Staten Island Uses Big Innings to Sweep Doubleheader

STATEN ISLAND, NY – St. Joseph's played Staten Island close for most of both games, but a six-run sixth in game one and a five-run fifth in game two put the Dolphins over the top as they swept the Bears at the College of Staten Island Baseball Complex on Sunday afternoon. The Bears fall to 1-9 on the season while Staten Island improves to 4-6.

Staten Island took an early lead in game one, scoring four runs in the second inning off of starter Paul Piccirillo (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian). The Dolphins scored three runs with two outs in the inning and led 5-1. The Bears answered with three runs of their own in the top of the third. Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) doubled home a run and later scored on a misplayed pop-up. Diaz was 4-for-4 in game one and is batting .472 this season. He also has nine hits in his last 13 at-bats.

The Dolphins scraped together a run in both the third and fourth innings, but Piccirillo kept the Bears in it, settling down after a rocky start.

The Bears had a chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth after three straight singles by Karasinski, Diaz and Joseph Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) loaded the bases with nobody out, but St. Joseph's could only push one run across on a sacrifice fly by Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian). After five innings, Staten Island held a 7-5 lead.

Staten Island then blew the game open in the bottom half of the sixth, scoring six runs to take an eight-run lead. The Dolphins batted around and collected five hits while also reaching on a walk, and an error. Centerfielder Dan Lynch's two-run single opened the flood gates and the Bears could only push across one run in the seventh, falling 13-7.

Piccirillo went the distance for the Bears allowing 13 runs (11 earned) on 14 hits while striking out four. The Bears tallied 11 hits off of Dolphins starter Pat Gale. Gale pitched all seven innings allowing six runs (three earned) and struck out eight.

The top three in the Dolphins order went a combined 9-for-12, scored five runs and picked up eight RBI.

Game two was almost a mirror image of game one as the Dolphins once again jumped out to an early lead, scoring one run in the second and two in the third inning off of Danny Contant (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian). Contant did a good job of limiting the damage to allow the Bears a chance to come back.

The Bears bats were quieted by Dolphins starter James Mardikos though. St. Joseph's didn't pick up their first hit until the fourth inning. Diaz singled and stole second, his ninth stolen base of the season, with one out and Jon Mendez knocked in his third run of the doubleheader to put the Bears on the board. Mendez's two hits extended his hitting streak to four games and he leads the team with eight RBI.

St. Joseph's threatened in the fifth, sending seven men to the plate and loading the bases, but could only score one run to cut the lead to 3-2.

Another big inning, this time a five-run fifth, knocked Contant out of the game and extended the Dolphins lead to six. Staten Island's Matt Morales and Francis Torres each had two RBI hits in the inning. Morales went 3-for-4 in game two and drove in four runs. Reliever Chris Vargas (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) got Henry Roman to ground into the double-play to end the inning with only the five runs having scored.

The Bears only managed one run in the sixth and dropped game two 9-3. Freshman Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peters) scored two runs, going 1-for-3 with a single and a fielder's choice. Danny Zaretsky (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln) drove in his second RBI of the season with a double in the sixth.

The Bears stay on the road as they take on NYU-Poly on Tuesday, March 22nd. The nine-inning game is scheduled to start at 4:00 pm. at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.