Offense Explodes for 18 Runs, Splits Doubleheader

BROOKLYN, NY – In their previous five games, including game one of Saturday's doubleheader against NYU-Poly, the St. Joseph's baseball team scored 19 runs. In the second inning of game two, they scored seven on their way to their biggest offensive outburst of the season in the 18-4 win.

The Bears clubbed 21 hits and scored 21 runs in the doubleheader. Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood), Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) and Joseph Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) all had four hits in the two games. Mendez also finished with four RBI.

St. Joseph's (6-22) got good pitching out of starters Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) and Kevin Hernandez (Corona, NY/Newtown). Pagano was the hard-luck loser in game one, allowing four runs on nine hits in 6.2 innings. Hernandez picked up his first career win, pitching all seven innings and allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six.

The Bears are in their final stretch of the season and head to the Bronx to take on Yeshiva in a doubleheader Sunday afternoon starting at 12:00 pm.

Game One – St. Joseph's 3, NYU-Poly 4 – Box Score

Jays pitcher Nathan Albers had the Bears' number in game one. He kept St. Joseph's scoreless for the first five innings. Pagano matched him for the first three innings before trouble found him in the fourth.

NYU-Poly (4-22) collected four hits in the fourth and scored three runs to take a 3-0 lead. The inning could have gotten out of hand, but Pagano induced a fly ball with the bases loaded to squash the threat.

St. Joseph's finally broke through against Albers in the sixth. Chris Pacifico (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund's) drew a one-out walk to start things off for the Bears. Boccia advanced Pacifico to second with an infield single and an errant throw allowed Pacifico to move to third. Danny Contant (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) drove home the first Bears run with a sacrifice fly and Diaz followed him with a single to put runners on the corners with two outs. A wild pitch proved to be costly as Boccia scored and Diaz was put in scoring position for Joe Mendez who ripped a single to left to tie the game. Mendez then stole second and advanced to third when the throw by the catcher skipped into the outfield, but he was left stranded and the Bears had to settle for the tie at 3-3 after five and half innings.

Pagano worked around a leadoff double in the bottom half of the frame to keep the game tied heading into the seventh inning. In the Bears' half the seventh, Frank Petrizzo (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) reached via an infield single and stole second to put himself in scoring position with two outs, but the Bears couldn't get the big hit and the game remained tied going into the bottom of the inning. Pagano struck out the first two Jays hitters, but back-to-back doubles gave NYU-Poly the 4-3 walk-off win.

Game Two – St. Joseph's 18, NYU-Poly 4 – Box Score

The Bears' offense that looked lethargic in game one woke up just in time for game two to give St. Joseph's a much needed victory.

After going down in order in the first, St. Joseph's sent 11 men to plate and scored seven runs on five hits. Joe Mendez had two hits in the inning and scored and drove home a run.

That would be all the offense Hernandez needed. He breezed through the Jays lineup, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning. The Bears continued to attack though, scoring runs in the third, fifth and another seven spot in the seventh to bring the total to 18. Hernandez lost his shutout out bid in the seventh as the Jays scored four runs in the final frame.

Eight of the nine starters recorded a hit in the game and five had at least two. Diaz, Joe Mendez and Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) all had three RBI as well and Jon Mendez extended his career high hitting streak to ten games. Danny Zaretsky (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a game high three runs scored.