Offense Leads Way as Baseball Sweeps Lehman in Home Opener

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Led by strong days at the plate from Joe Mendez (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell), Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and Nicholas LoPrinzi (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) along with strong outings on the mound from sophomores Rosario DiLorenzo (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team continued their strong play as they swept Lehman College, 10-1 and 10-2 in their home opening doubleheader at the SJC Outdoor Complex on Saturday afternoon.

St. Joseph's (6-5) moves over .500 for the first time since they won their season opener and have won five of their last six, while Lehman (1-9) has now lost seven in a row.

The Bears jumped all over Lightning starter Wilfredo Gonzalez in the opener as they broke through with three runs in the bottom of the first, two coming off one of Mendez's three doubles in game one, to take a 3-0 lead after one. Lehman countered with a run in the top half of the second, but that was as close as they would get as St. Joseph's added runs in each of their next four at bats to take a 10-1 lead and cruised the rest of the way.

The lead was more than enough for DiLorenzo who went 5 1/3 innings strong, allowing one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts to move to 3-0 on the year.

The nightcap saw the Bears bats continue to hit Lightning pitching hard as they put up four runs in both the first and second innings to take a comfortable 8-0 lead. After Luebcke retired the side in the first and Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y./Oceanside) singled to lead off the St. Joseph's half of the inning, McKenna came to bat and launched a bomb over the left-field fence to put the Bears up 2-0 early. The Bears tacked on two more runs in the frame, helped by three walks and two Lehman errors.

The bottom half of the second had the St. Joseph's batters thriving against Lightning pitching as they collected five hits in the inning, including a two-RBI single up the middle from Mendez and an RBI single from LoPrinzi, that gave the Bears a comfortable lead that was never threatened.

Luebcke, making his first collegiate start on the mound, pitched well going 4 1/3 innings, surrendering one earned run on five hits with one punchout to pick up his first win.

Mendez finished the day going 4-for-8 at the plate with four RBIs and five runs scored, while McKenna batted 2-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored. LoPrinzi concluded the day 4-for-5 with five RBIs and junior Vinny Rossi (Bayside, N.Y./Holy Cross) had a 2-for-6 day at the dish with one RBI and two runs scored.

TURNING POINT – GAME ONE

DiLorenzo got into a slight jam in the top of the first, but was able to work his way out of it. In the very next half inning the Bears went right to work as McKenna, the No. 2 hitter, tripled to left center to give St. Joseph's a baserunner in scoring position with one out. Cundari followed with a walk before Mendez doubled both Cundari and McKenna home to make it 2-0. Mendez tagged up on a flyball to leftfield before scoring on a wild pitch to give the Bears a 3-0 lead which they continued to build on throughout the game.

TURNING POINT – GAME TWO

Luebcke retired Lehman in order to start the game and St. Joseph's offense would provide all the run support he needed with a four spot in the bottom of the first. Rapp led off the inning with a single before McKenna brought him home with a two-run homer to make it 2-0. The Bears tacked on two more runs to build a comfortable 4-0 lead after one and added four more in the second to put the game out of reach early.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORES

• Other Contributors: Chris Cutrone (2-for-5, 4 R) Anthony Inserillo (2-for-3, 2 R) Anthony Amatuzzi (1 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K) Sean O'Melia (1 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R)
• Nine different Bears recorded a hit on the afternoon.
• St. Joseph's had 20 hits on the day compared to 11 by Lehman.
• Lehman struggled defensively, committing five errors while the Bears defense was strong once again committing only one on the day.
• Over the course of the doubleheader St. Joseph's had three innings with four runs.
• The two teams combined to walk 22 batters on the day.
• Anthony DeFillippo recorded his first collegiate hit in game one.

THE BEAR FACTS

• St. Joseph's improves to 7-5 in the all-time series against Lehman after the sweep.
• The Bears win both games of their home opener for the second consecutive season.
• The home run by McKenna is his first of the season and is the first for the team this season.
• Senior Mike Cundari is three runs shy of 100 for his career.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS - SUNYIT

St. Joseph's has a quick turnaround as they host SUNYIT tomorrow at Baseball Heaven in Yaphank, N.Y. for a doubleheader at 10 a.m.