Pagano Strikes out 100th Batter, Diaz Becomes Career Hits Leader as Baseball Pushes Past John Jay

BELLEROSE, N.Y. – Powered by a complete game from Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) and back-to-back home runs by Joe Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) and Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team defeated John Jay, 5-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) knocked a double leading a Bears rally in the eighth, his 143rd hit of his Bears' career, taking over the all-time record, surpassing Joseph Boccia '12.

St. Joseph's (14-8) sees their six-game losing streak come to a halt while John Jay (2-19) has now lost nine games in a row.

Pagano and Bloodhound starter Trevor Johnson went toe-to-toe for the first five innings without either pitcher giving up a run. John Jay would break the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth before the Bears came back with two in the sixth to gain a 2-1 advantage. St. Joseph's tacked on three more in the eighth giving the Bears a lead that would prove insurmountable.

Pagano (3-1) notched his third win on the mound this season allowing one unearned run on eight hits while fanning five, reaching the 100 career strikeout milestone. Johnson (1-2) finished the day going 7 1/3 innings allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out three.

Mendez finished the day going 3-for-4 at the dish with two runs scored and three RBI while Cundari concluded the night going 3-for-4 with a run scored, two RBI and a stolen base. 

TURNING POINT

The game was scoreless until the top of the sixth when the Bloodhounds scratched an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead. The Bears came right back in the bottom half of the inning and scored two runs to take their first lead of the game at 2-1 helped by a RBI double from Mendez and RBI single from Cundari.

After a scoreless seventh, John Jay threatened with runners on second and third in the eighth but Pagano ended the threat with his fifth strikeout of the day. St. Joseph's came up in the bottom half of the inning looking to add on insurance runs and they did just that as Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, NY/St. Francis Prep) led off the inning reaching base on an error before two batters later Mendez belted a two-run home run to right center for his third of the year. Cundari immediately followed that up with a solo shot to left field, his fourth of the year, giving the Bears a 5-1 lead that Pagano secured in the ninth.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• McKenna went 1-for-4 with a run scored.
• The Bears scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the sixth inning with two outs.
• Domenick Camerada gunned down three potential base stealers from behind the plate.
• Eight of the nine St. Joseph's hits came from the Bears 1-through-4 hitters.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Pagano recorded his 100th career strikeout in the fifth inning and picks up his tenth career win on the mound. He becomes the second Bear to ever reach the strikeout milestone.
• The Bears had back-to-back home runs for the first time in school history.
• Mendez's home run was the eighth of his career and Cundari's was his seventh.
• The Bears now improve to 7-3 all-time against the Bloodhounds having won the last five meetings.
• Vinny Rossi extends his team-high hitting streak to nine games.
• McKenna has now reached base safely in a team-high 14 consecutive games.
• Camerada's has thrown out 16 potential base stealers this season, which is one shy of the Bears' career record.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS

The Bears will face John Jay in a rematch on Thursday, April 18th at Padavan-Preller Field with first pitch set for 3:30 p.m.