Bears Come Up Short at Lehman, Fall in 9th

BRONX, N.Y. – Despite rallying from a four-run deficit and tying the game on a two-run double by junior Joe Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) in the ninth, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) fell to Lehman College as the Lightning plated a run in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 walk-off victory on Friday evening at South Field.

The Bears (20-13) have now lost two games in a row both in walk-off fashion while the Lightning (15-16) conclude their 2013 regular season having won three games in a row.

The game was tied at 1-1 after four and half innings when Lehman came to bat in the fifth and put up a four spot building a 5-1 advantage. St. Joseph's cut the deficit to 5-3 after scoring two runs in the seventh. The Bears would tie the game at 5-5 in the top of the ninth before the Lightning ended the game after loading the bases with a RBI single with two outs.

The Bears used five different pitchers with Rosario DiLorenzo (Howard Beach, NY/Archbishop Molloy) earning the nod as the starter going two scoreless innings allowing a hit with two punchouts. Senior Paul Piccirillo (Brooklyn, NY/Xavierian)(3-2) pitched 1 2/3 innings retiring the side in order in the eighth before surrendering three hits and a walk in the ninth with the game-winning run coming on an RBI single from Miguel Nunez.

Earning the win for Lehman was Michael Liang (3-0) who pitched the final three frames allowing the game-tying runs to score in the top of the ninth concluding the day allowing one earned run and three hits with two strikeouts.

Sophomore Chris Cutrone (Levittown, NY/Island Trees HS) led the Bears at the plate going 3-for-5 with two runs scored while Mendez finished the night going 1-for-5 with two RBI. Sophomore Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, NY/St. Francis Prep) went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Sophomore Vinny Rossi (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) was the only other Bear with multiple hits finishing the night 2-for-4.

TURNING POINTS

With the score tied at 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Lightning sent eight batters to the plate with four runs scoring helped by five hits and two St. Joseph's miscues building a 5-1 lead. St. Joseph's cut the deficit to 5-3 with two runs in the seventh helped by an RBI double from junior Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) and a RBI groundout from McKenna.

After a scoreless eighth, the Bears came up in their final at bat trailing by two, 5-3, with the heart of the order due up. Cundari started the rally with a leadoff walk before McKenna reached on a fielder's choice. In the subsequent at bat, Mendez tied the game with one swing of the bat with his two-run double to center field. Rossi followed that up with a sacrifice moving Mendez to third and only one out in the inning before a line-out to the pitcher on a bunt attempt with Mendez being doubled up to end the threat.

With game tied at 5-5 heading to the bottom of the ninth, Piccirillo retired the first two batters of the frame before back-to-back hits put runners on second and third. The Lightning followed that up with a walk before Nunez singled to center field ending the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The two teams combined to go 8-for-28 (.286) with runners in scoring position.
• Freshman Sean O'Melia pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
• Cundari finished the day going 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
• The two teams combined to commit seven errors.
• The Lightning knocked 14 hits in the contest, only one going for extra bases - a double in the deciding ninth inning.

NEWS AND NOTES

• McKenna extends his reached base safely streak to 25 games and is two games shy of the school record set by Cundari earlier this season.
• The Bears conclude the season 2-1 against the Lighting with the all-time series now tied at 5-5.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS – SMALL COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

The Bears return to action on Monday, May 6th as they play Briarcliffe in the USCAA Small College World Series with first pitch set for 11 a.m. in Butler, Pa. St. Joseph's is making their first ever appearance in the event and will be playing in the 8 vs. 9 matchup as the No. 8 seed in the first round.