Bears Offense Explodes in Sweep of King's (NY)

BELLEROSE, N.Y. – Powered by a combined 33 runs and 34 hits, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team took both ends of a doubleheader against King's (NY) winning game one, 19-2, before taking the nightcap, 14-1, on Sunday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Bears (17-8) have now won four games in a row after dropping their previous six while the Lions (0-3) drop their third straight in their inaugural season.

In the opener, St. Joseph's got off to a quick start by putting 11 runs on the board in the bottom of the first after King's (NY) had got a run across in the top half of the inning. The Bears followed that up with five in the second and three runs in the third to build a 19-1 lead that proved to be insurmountable.

The nightcap saw four St. Joseph's pitchers combine for a one-hitter with the lone hit coming on a double in the fourth. The Bears offense continued to overwhelm Lions pitching as they scored four runs in their first at bat and built a 10-0 advantage after three innings that turned out to be too much for the Lions to overcome.

In game one, freshman Sean O'Melia (Woodside, NY/Monsignor McClancy) (1-0) picked up the win in his first collegiate start going four strong surrendering two earned runs on five hits while fanning two. The nightcap saw Chris Vargas (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) (1-0) make his first start of the 2013 campaign with him completing two innings without allowing a run or hit while striking out two.

The Bears were led by Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, NY/St. Francis Prep) who was nearly perfect on the day going 8-for-9 with two doubles, eight runs scored and two RBI. Joe Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) finished the twinbill going 4-for-5 with two doubles, five runs scored while driving in seven runs. Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) completed the day going 5-for-8, including 4-for-4 in game one, with his first home run of the season in game one and four stolen bases. Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) concluded the day going 4-for-5 with two doubles, three runs scored and five RBI.

TURNING POINT – GAME 1

After King's scored a run in the top half of the first inning to give themselves an early 1-0 lead, the Bears responded by sending 16 batters to the plate exploding for 11 runs in the inning. St. Joseph's was helped in the frame by four doubles including two by Mendez with the first one getting the Bears on the board followed by a base loaded double that cleared the bases later in the inning to put St. Joseph's up 10-1.

O'Melia responded after receiving the run support by retiring the Lions in order in the second inning before the Bears tacked on five more runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the game out of reach at 16-1.

TURNING POINT – GAME 2

Following a scoreless top half of the first by King's, St. Joseph's manufactured four runs on only one hit helped by five walks in the inning to take an early 4-0 lead after one inning of play. Vargas then sat the Lions down in order before the Bears put a three spot on the board helped by an RBI double by Cundari and two King's errors to increase their lead to 7-0 after two innings putting the game out of reach.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• 10 different Bears recorded a hit between the two games.
• The Bears 1-5 hitters went a combined 25-for-32 at the plate scoring 27 runs while driving in 18 runs.
• Chris Cutrone finished the day going 4-for-6 at the dish with five runs scored and three RBI.
• Bears were hit by six pitches over the two games.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Vinny Rossi had his team-high 11-game hitting streak came to an end in game two after going 3-for-4 in game one.
• McKenna extended his reached base safely streak to a team-high 17 games.
• The 11 runs scored in the first inning of game one was the most runs scored in one inning since the Bears set a school record with 13 runs in the seventh inning against Gallaudet on April 10, 2010.
• The 33 combined runs tie the school record set against Polytechnic on April 15, 2008.
• St. Joseph's takes a 2-0 lead in the all-time series as today's games were the first played between the two squads.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS – MERCHANT MARINE

St. Joseph's returns to action on Tuesday, April 23rd when they take on Merchant Marine at King's Point with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.