Baseball Gameday: Bears vs. Maritime and Vaughn

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (7-6) tries to continue its strong play since returning from Florida as they travel to SUNY Maritime (4-10) for a doubleheader at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 29th before concluding the week with a home twinbill against Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe Vaughn College (0-0) on Sunday, March 30th at 11 a.m.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (7-6) at SUNY Maritime (4-10, 1-2 Skyline)

Saturday, March 29th • 9 a.m.
Reinhart Field • Throggs Neck, N.Y.

Vaughn College (0-0) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (7-6)

Sunday, March 30th • 11 a.m.
MCU Park • Brooklyn, N.Y.
Live Stats

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to move a season-high five games over .500 with sweeps of Maritime and Vaughn, coming into the action as winners of six of their last eight games.
• With a sweep of Maritime the Bears would improve to 6-11 all-time against the Privateers, including a win in their season opener.
• St. Joseph's looks to take both games against Vaughn in their first ever meeting.
• The Bears try to improve on their 3-1 start in both home games and true road games to begin the season.
• With a pair of sweeps, St. Joseph's would finish the month of March with a 10-2 record after going 12-2 in the month a year ago.
• Vaughn tries to pick up their first wins in program history as this is their first varsity season.
• Maritime looks to avoid being swept in a doubleheader for the third time this season.
• St. Joseph's looks to win its first games at MCU Park since May 6, 2012 after not playing there a year ago.

Series History

vs. Maritime: St. Joseph's holds a 4-11 mark all-time against Maritime dating back to 2008. The Bears snapped a two-game losing streak to the Privateers with a 13-3 win on February 21st in their season opener in Florida.

vs. Vaughn: First Meeting

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Chris Cutrone threw a complete game shutout as St. Joseph's split a doubleheader with SUNYIT, dropping a 7-6 decision in game one before earning a 1-0 triumph in the second game on Sunday afternoon at Baseball Heaven.

St. Joseph's has hit its stride since returning from a three-week layoff, winning six of their last eight games. The Bears pitching has led to the turnaround as the staff has compiled a 2.78 ERA over the eight-game stretch and the offense has seen improvement as well hitting .309 with 49 runs scored.

Junior outfielder Thomas McKenna has continued to swing the bat well for St. Joseph's after leading the team in batting average a year ago. The USCAA Second Team All-American selection from a year ago is batting a team-high-tying .395 (17-for-43) and leads the team with 14 runs scored. McKenna also has a home run to his credit, leads the team with a .605 slugging percentage and ranks third on the team with eight RBI.

Also contributing for the Bears is senior outfielder Joe Mendez who is leads the team in RBIs with 15. Mendez is hitting .359 (14-for-39) on the year, has scored nine runs and has a homer and a team-high four doubles on the year. Freshman Nicholas LoPrinzi has settled in nicely in his debut season for St. Joseph's, hitting a team-high-tying .395 (15-for-38) with nine RBI.

Leading the Bears pitching staff is last year's AD3I Co-Pitcher of the Year Rosario DiLorenzo who has started off the 2014 campaign with a bang, winning his first three starts with a 3.12 ERA. This week's AD3I of the Week Chris Cutrone comes off a complete game shutout against SUNYIT, the first 1-0 shutout victory in Bears history.

Scouting the Privateers

Last Time Out: The Privateers saw their two-game winning streak come to an end as they dropped a 19-9 decision to Merchant Marine on Thursday. Albert Doerbecker led Maritime at the dish with a 3-for-4 day with a run scored.

Maritime comes in having won four of their last seven games after starting the season 0-7, including four losses in Florida. The Privateers were picked fifth in the Skyline preseason coaches poll and are an experienced bunch with 14 upperclassmen on the squad this season.

Leading the returners for Maritime is last year's Skyline Second Team All-Conference selection Thomas Bauer who is batting .265 (9-for-34) to start the season and has a team-high ten runs scored. Also returning for the Privateers is Brian McLaughlin who is leading the team with a .333 (14-for-42) batting average and ten RBI.

One-time Skyline Pitcher of the Week Nick Sarna leads Maritime on the hill with a 3.00 ERA and .197 batting average against. The senior has made three starts with one complete game in 18.0 innings and has 17 strikeouts on the season. Ryan Alsdorf also gives the Privateers support on the mound, posting a 3.18 ERA in three starts. The junior has one complete game to his record in 17.0 innings and leads the staff with 19 strikeouts.

The Way of the Warrior

Vaughn begins their first varsity season and looks to pick up the first wins in program history. The Warriors join St. Joseph's and King's (N.Y.) in the newly formed Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC). Vaughn will play 11 games before taking part in the HVIAC Tournament on Sunday, May 4th.

Team Comparison

Bears	Nickname	Privateers	Warriors
7-6	Record	4-10 (1-2)	0-0
HVIAC	Conference	Skyline	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Schedule | Statistics
T. McKenna & N. LoPrinzi (.395)	Top Avg.	Brian McLaughlin (.333)
Joe Mendez (15)	Top RBI	B. McLaughlin & J. Longo (10)
Rosario DiLorenzo (15)	Top K	Ryan Alsdorf (19)
.282	Bat. Avg.	.256
.351	Slugging	.304
.373	OBP	.348
75	Runs	64
103	Hits	102
61	RBI	55
13	SB	32
5.24	ERA	7.63
.277	Opp. Avg.	.314
58/52	K/BB	84/61
.978	Field %	.930