Baseball Gameday: Bears vs. Baruch

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (9-6) opens up its slate of home games at MCU Park with a matchup against Baruch College (6-10) on Thursday, April 3rd at 4 p.m.

Game Information

Baruch College (6-10, 0-1 CUNYAC) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (9-6)

Thursday, April 3rd • 4 p.m.
MCU Park • Brooklyn, N.Y.

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to move a season-high four games over .500 with a win over Baruch.
• With a win, the Bears would have a season-high four-game winning streak and winners of nine of their last 11 games.
• St. Joseph's tries to snap a two-game losing streak to the Bearcats and improve to 3-5 all-time against Baruch.
• The Bears try to improve to 4-1 in home games on the season after going 7-2 a year ago.
• The Bearcats look to snap a two-game losing streak after winning three games in a row against Mount Saint Mary and Mount Saint Vincent.
• Baruch tries to improve its record in true road games to 4-5 with a win.
• After finishing the month of March with an 8-2 mark, the Bears look to start off the month of April with a win.
• Joe Mendez looks to continue his home run barrage after hitting four home runs in St. Joseph's sweep of Maritime on Saturday.

Series History

Baruch maintains a 5-2 edge in the all-time series dating back to April 23, 2009 and won both meetings a year ago. The Bearcats took a 2-1 pitcher's duel on March 23rd before taking a 14-12 slugfest on April 4th.

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Senior Joe Mendez blasted four home runs on the day to become the all-time leader in school history and St. Joseph's pounded out 26 runs and 22 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep of SUNY Maritime, defeating the Privateers 19-5 in the opener before taking the nightcap 7-6 in six innings on Saturday.

St. Joseph's continues to play well since returning from Florida, winning eight of their last ten games to move a season-high three games over .500. The Bears have used a combination of an increase in offensive production and strong pitching over the ten-game stretch to right the ship after a 1-4 start.

St. Joseph's is hitting .324 since returning from the Sunshine State and the pitching staff has done its part, compiling a 3.31 ERA. During the ten games the Bears offense is averaging 7.5 runs per game, has six home runs and has stolen 13 bases.

This week's D3baseball.com Team of the Week selection and USCAA and AD3I Player of the Week Joe Mendez has found his groove after a slow start to the season, becoming the Bears all-time career home run leader with his four homers against Maritime. Since returning from Florida, the senior is hitting .469 (15-for-32) with a team-high five home runs, 23 RBI and 14 runs scored and is slugging an impressive 1.063 over the last ten games.

Freshman Nicholas LoPrinzi has not had any trouble adjusting to the college game as he is second on the team with a .400 batting average and 10 RBI. The outfielder/infielder has a team-high seven multi-hit games on the year and has a team-best .500 on-base percentage.

Also providing depth to the Bears lineup is junior Thomas McKenna who is batting .360 on the year with a team-high 16 runs scored and is third on the team with eight RBI. Senior Mike Cundari gives St. Joseph's another power threat in the order, coming in with a .348 batting average and 16 runs scored on the year.

Rosario DiLorenzo has shown no signs of a sophomore slump as he comes into today's game with a 4-0 mark and 3.57 ERA in 22 2/3 innings. Junior Chris Cutrone provides the Bears with another strong arm on the staff, going 3-1 with a 4.74 ERA in a team-high 24 2/3 innings.

Cat Facts

Last Time Out: Baruch dropped a 9-2 decision to New Jersey City on Tuesday. The Bearcats received a home run from Matthew Ballone and an RBI single from Zachary Uher.

Baruch is off a 20-18 season that saw them finish runner-up to Staten Island in the season-ending conference tournament. The Bearcats have struggled at the plate in their tough non-conference slate to date, batting .228 as a team and have a .326 on-base percentage.

The leader of the Baruch offensive attack is D3baseball.com Third Team Preseason All-American selection and last year's CUNYAC MVP Nicholas Pomo-Roman who is batting a team-high .293 on the year and leads the team with 14 runs scored and 17 hits. The 2013 D3baseball.com New York Region Third Team All-Star and Second Team American Baseball Coaches Association/New York State Rawlings All-Star is coming off a season that him bat .423 with 22 RBI and 45 runs scored in 37 games.

Adding production to the Bearcats lineup is this week's CUNYAC Player of the Week Zachary Uher who is batting .280 on the season with a team-high ten RBI. Angel Tejeda adds a presence as well to the lineup with nine RBI and a team-high .407 slugging percentage.

Baruch is led on the hill by ace Paul Perez who ranks No. 4 in the CUNYAC with a 2.10 ERA and has compiled a 2-2 record this season in four starts, including three complete games. Ryan Smith leads the team with a 3-2 mark, making six appearances with two starts and has compiled a 4.44 ERA.

TEAM COMPARISON

Bears	Nickname	Bearcats
9-6	Record	6-10 (0-1)
HVIAC	Conference	CUNYAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Joe Mendez (.409)	Top Avg.	Nicholas Pomo-Roman (.293)
Joe Mendez (26)	Top RBI	Zachary Uher (10)
Rosario DiLorenzo (18)	Top K	Paul Perez (18)
.296	Bat. Avg.	.228
.392	Slugging	.281
.391	OBP	.326
101	Runs	65
125	Hits	112
82	RBI	53
18	SB	30
5.28	ERA	5.44
.271	Opp. Avg.	.296
66/68	K/BB	61/64
.977	Field %	.958