Bears Baseball Begins Road Trip With Loss to Mount Saint Mary

FISHKILL, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team began their seven-game road trip with a loss against Mount Saint Mary on Friday afternoon falling, 8-2, at Dutchess Stadium.

The Bears (18-10) have now traded wins and losses over their last four games while the Knights (14-16) end a three-game losing streak.

Mount Saint Mary got on the board early with a run in the second and would not look back as they tacked on three more in the fourth and put up a four spot in the eighth giving the Knights an 8-0 lead they would not relinquish. St. Joseph's ended the shutout bid by plating two runs in the top of the ninth.

Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) (3-2) picked up the loss for the Bears as he went 7 1/3 surrendering eight earned runs on 11 hits while fanning one. St. Joseph's was able to make contact off Knights starter Andrew Conn but were unable to break through on the scoreboard until the ninth inning. Conn (2-0) went 8 1/3 innings allowing two earned runs on ten hits picking up his second win of the season.

The Bears offense was led by Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) who finished the day going 3-for-4 while Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) went 2-for-4 with a RBI single and run scored. Vinny Rossi (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) also went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI single.  

TURNING POINTS

After a scoreless first inning, the Bears threatened with runners on first and third in the second inning and one out before a double play ended the threat. In the ensuing half inning Mount Saint Mary manufactured a run with a walk and single before a fielder's choice ended up giving the Knights a 1-0 lead.

With St. Joseph's struggling on offense, Mount Saint Mary broke through with three runs in the fourth as they sent seven batters to the plate and were helped by a triplet of singles and a two-RBI triple that gave the Knights a 4-0 lead that would prove insurmountable.

After Mount Saint Mary plated four more runs in the eighth, the Bears ended the shutout with two runs in the ninth with RBI singles from Cundari and Rossi but the Knights lead proved too much to overcome.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Joe Mendez went 1-for-4 with a double and run scored.
• The Bears went 5-for-14 (.357) with runners on base.
• Alec Seidman led the Knights going 3-for-4 with a home run, five RBI and two runs scored.
• Sean Jarocki made his fifth appearance out of the bullpen this season and threw 2/3 of a scoreless inning.

NEWS AND NOTES

• Thomas McKenna extends his reached base safely streak to 20 games with his walk in the seventh.
• With his double in the ninth inning, Joe Mendez set the Bears single-season record for most doubles with his 17th of the season and now has an eight-game hitting streak.
• The Bears are now 0-4 all-time against the Knights.
• Mendez remains three RBI shy of 100 for his career while McKenna is five hits shy of 100 for his career.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS – SUNY Canton

The Bears continue their road trip as they travel upstate to take on SUNY Canton tomorrow, April 27th with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.