Bears Game Day: Baseball at RussMatt Central Florida Invitational

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- St. Joseph's kicks off their 2014 campaign with a trip to Florida in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Bears look to improve on their 20-15 season in 2013 as they travel down south with games against Brandeis and Maritime in Winter Haven on Friday, then go to Lake Myrtle Saturday and Sunday to take on Franklin College and Alma College.

GAME INFORMATION

Friday, February 21
12 p.m. - St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) vs. Maritime (new start time)
2:30 p.m. - St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) vs. Brandeis
@ Chain of Lakes Park Stadium (Winter Haven, Fla.)

Saturday, February 22
6 p.m. - St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) vs. Franklin
@ Lake Myrtle Park (Lake Myrtle, Fla.)

Sunday, February 23
11:30 a.m. - St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) vs. Alma (Doubleheader)
@ Lake Myrtle Park (Lake Myrtle, Fla.)

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STORYLINES

• St. Joseph's looks to improve on their 2013 season, where they went 20-15 and qualified for their first USCAA Small College World Series.
• This is the first time the Bears have played in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
• The Bears face Brandeis, Franklin, and Alma for the first time in team history.
• The St. Joseph's team looks to avenge being swept in a doubleheader against Maritime College last April.3

ALL-TIME SERIES

vs. Maritime College: The Bears have a 3-11 record against the Privateers all-time, losing most recently matchup 11-1 and 16-10 on a doubleheader April 3, 2013.

This is the first meeting in team history against Brandeis, Franklin, and Alma College for St. Joseph's.

THE BEAR FACTS

The Bears come into the 2014 season with the goal of returning to USCAA Small Conference World Series after a 20-15 record last season.

St. Joseph's bring back three of their most productive hitters. Joe Mendez comes fresh off a junior campaign where he drove in a team-high 41 RBI and hit .365, becoming the first Bear to earn First-Team All-New York Region Honors. The senior outfielder need just 30 hits and five home runs to become the all-time leader in both categories.

USCAA Second Team All-American Thomas McKenna looks to build off a season where he led the team with a .394 batting average and set single-season program records for hits (54) and runs (42). First-baseman Mike Cundari (.349 avg.) will look to provide senior leadership in the heart of the lineup after finishing with a career-best 37 RBI last season and needs 27 RBI to become the second Bear to join the 100-RBI club.

On the mound, Association of Division III Independents co-pitcher of the year Rosario DiLorenzo seeks to improve on an outstanding rookie campaign where he compiled a 5-2 record and team-best 3.41 earned run average and 56 strikeouts. 

JUDGING BRANDEIS

Brandeis comes into 2014 after closing out last season with a 15-21 record. The Judges are led by junior first baseman/pitcher Kyle Brenner, who led the team with a .330 batting average and drove in 18 runs last season. Also in the lineup is sophomore Liam O'Connor, who tied a team-high with 18 RBI and batted .321 in 2013.

On the mound, Brenner won four games, saved two and struck out a team-high 48 batters for the Judges in 2013.

SAILING WITH THE PRIVATEERS

The Maritime baseball team will be looking to make its way back to the Skyline Conference Tournament for the third straight season. In 2013, the Privateers finished with a 16-22 overall record, including an even 8-8 mark in Skyline action, and won a pair of games in the conference playoffs as the #5 seed.

Offensively, sophomore D'Juan Seymour brings his team-leading .344 batting average back for his second year with the team. Junior Albert Doerbecker and classmate Matthew Sollin both trailed Semler by two RBIs, and look to challenge one another for the team lead this season.

On the hill, Kurt Niemeyer was second on the team with 51 innings pitched with his 4.06 ERA and team-high four wins and 47 strikeouts. He will look to spearhead the pitching staff in his senior season with the team. Junior James Very and sophomore David Ramos led the team in relief last season as the duo combined for 39 1/3 innings of relief and allowing just 14 earned runs.

GRIZZLY WATCH

The Grizzlies are coming off a season where they finished third in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) last spring, with a 14-11 conference record (24-20 overall), and advanced to the championship round of the HCAC tournament. Franklin returns five positional starters and its entire pitching rotation from last season's 24-win team.

Senior Chris Hoopingarner leads the returning pitching rotation with a 7-5 record, a 2.66 earned run average and 48 strikeouts in a school record 88 innings during the 2013 season. Sophomore Hayden Cleveland and junior Seth Powers combined for 19 starts last season. Powers led the team with 66 strikeouts, while Cleveland won four games and had a 4.02 ERA as a freshman. Senior Taylor Glaze won a team-best eight games and had one save last season.

Offensively, senior Scott Windler batted .332 with 45 runs scored and 15 doubles. The outfielder led the Grizzlies with 16 stolen bases. Junior Jameson Brock scored a team-best 47 runs last season. He hit .327 and drove in 23 runs.

SCOUTING THE SCOTS

The Scots finished the 2013 campaign with an overall record of 16-21 during the season and 12-16 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), good for sixth place in the conference. The club finished strong by winning their final four games of league play. They are projected to finish fifth this season.

Alma is led on the offensive end by senior infielder Alex Kravat, the MIAA's hitting champion in 2013. He hit .336 with 12 RBI, and .410 throughout league play. On the mound, righthanded senior Kevin Thompson, who compiled a perfect 5-0 record including three complete games.

TEAM COMPARISON

(All Statistics from 2013)

St. Joseph's (Bklyn)	School	Maritime	Brandeis	Franklin	Alma
Bears	Nickname	Privateers	Judges	Grizzlies	Scots
20-15 (Ind.)	Record	16-22 (8-8)	15-21 (Ind.)	24-20 (14-10)	16-21 (12-16)
HVIAC	Conference	Skyline	UAA	HCAC	MIAA
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Thomas McKenna (.397)	Top Avg.	D'Juan Seymour (.344)	Kyle Brenner (.330)	Zach Osowski (.379)	Cameron Schmidt (.368)
Joseph Mendez (41)	Top RBI	Joey Semler (23)	Kyle Brenner/Liam O'Connor (18)	Jesse Wilson (56)	Jose Velez (21)
Rosario DiLorenzo (56)	Top K	Kurt Niemeyer (47)	Kyle Brenner/Mike Swerdloff (48)	Seth Powers (66)	Jose Velez (78)
.322	Bat. Avg.	.269	.276	.291	.280
.438	Slugging	.357	.324	.392	.363
.395	OBP	.379	.327	.386	.362
260	Runs	212	138	299	161
359	Hits	312	319	437	278
226	RBI	170	121	261	145
62	SB	66	22	90	56
4.81	ERA	5.37	4.01	5.19	.560
.270	Opp. Avg.	.290	.279	3.1	.279
163/109	K/BB	230/172	174/81	295/176	211/149
.946	Field %	.925	.950		.937