Joe Mendez’ Walk-Off Homer Powers Bears to Sweep of Rivier in Home Opener

BELLEROSE, NY – Freshman Joseph Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) hit a walk-off three-run homer giving the St. Joseph's College baseball team a 5-3 victory over Rivier in their home opener at Padavan-Preller Field. The Bears followed it up with a 15 hit barrage in the nightcap to sweep the Raiders, 12-6.

Mendez collected five RBI, four hits and three runs on the afternoon.  Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peters) finished the twinbill going 6-for-7, driving in three runs, scoring three runs, and blasting his first collegiate home run. Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) and Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) each had three hits and four runs scored.  Danny Zaretsky (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln) had four RBI.

Both Bears hurlers went the distance as Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) improved to 2-1 and Paul Piccirillo (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) leveled his record to 1-1.

St. Joseph's improves to 3-9 on the season and Rivier remains winless at 0-6. The Bears return to the diamond on Sunday, March 27th, hitting the road to face Old Westbury for a two game set starting at noon.

Game 1 – St. Joseph's 5, Rivier 3 – Box Score

Rivier jumped out to 1-0 lead in the first taking advantage of a Bears throwing error. St. Joseph's tied the game in the second inning on a Cundari single down the left field line that scored Jon Mendez, who singled earlier in the inning.

Rivier went ahead 3-1 plating single runs in the third and fifth frames. In the sixth, Diaz drew a leadoff walk and stole second and Joe Boccia delivered him home with a two-out hit to center. Cundari followed Boccia with a base knock to left, giving the Bears runners at first and second threatening to tie or take the lead, but left them stranded and entering the final frame down by one.

Pagano shut down the Raiders in the seventh, finishing the game with nine strikeouts. Joseph Swierczewski (Ozone Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to right center and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. Raider starter Kevin Weaver struck out Chris Pacifico (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund's) and got Thomas Karasinski (Staten Island, NY/New Dorp) to pop up in the infield to get within one out of the win, but still faced the heart of the Bears' lineup. Weaver made a costly error plunking Diaz after jumping ahead to an 0-2 count bringing Joe Mendez to the plate.

Mendez, the Bears cleanup hitter, drove an 0-1 pitch to left center for his second home run of the season and the game winner. The walk-off home run is the second in St. Joseph's College baseball history, with Joe Harten hitting a one-out, three-run home run last year to lift the Bears to a 14-13 victory over John Jay.

Game 2 – St. Joseph's 12, Rivier 6 – Box Score

Carrying the momentum of the comeback victory, the Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first with a Joe Mendez single down the left field line plating Diaz and Jon Mendez. Rivier took back a run in the second before the Bears knocked three straight hits to the outfield to lead off the third with the bases loaded. Zaretsky and Pacifico brought home two runs as St. Joseph's extended their lead to 4-2.

Starter Piccirillo ran into trouble in the fourth after a leadoff error and four straight hits opened up a five run frame and the Bears suddenly found themselves down 6-4. But the Bears would take advantage of a leadoff error in the bottom half of the frame and after singles by Diaz and Jon Mendez, Cundari launched a two-out, two-run homer to left field which would be the eventual game winner.

St. Joseph's added five more insurance runs in the fifth inning, behind a two-run blast from Jon Mendez and a bases clearing double from Zaretsky. The six run cushion would be more than enough for Piccirillo who worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh, earning his first win of the season and struck out seven in the process.