Cutrone's Complete Game, McKenna's Walk-Off Single in 10th Earns Baseball a Split With SUNY Canton

Video of McKenna's Game-Winning Single in the 10th Inning of Game Two

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Powered by a 10-inning complete game gem from junior Chris Cutrone (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees HS) and a walk-off single by junior Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team split a doubleheader with United States Collegiate Athletic Association foe SUNY-Canton, falling in the opener 4-3 before taking the nightcap 2-1 in ten innings on Saturday afternoon at the SJC Outdoor Complex.

St. Joseph's (11-7) saw their four-game winning streak come to an end in game one, but with the win in game two they have now won five of their last six, while SUNY-Canton (8-12) has now earned a split in their last two doubleheaders after a seven-game losing streak.

Both games were tightly contested as the matchup carried possible USCAA Small College World Series implications down the line as the Bears came in ranked No. 8 in the first USCAA coaches' poll, while the Roos entered at No. 15.

St. Joseph's got off to their customary strong start in the opener as freshman Anthony DeFillippo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian HS) continued his stretch of good play with a leadoff double to right field in the first. He later came around to score on senior Mike Cundari's (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) RBI single through the left side to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead.

Sophomore Rosario DiLorenzo (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) made the start on the bump for St. Joseph's and went punch-for-punch with Roos starter Khalil Bratton all game. After being given the lead, DiLorenzo pitched two scoreless innings before giving up a run in the fourth on an RBI single up the middle.

The Bears offense could not find its groove against Bratton after the first inning as they had only two hits between the second and sixth innings. SUNY-Canton touched up DiLorenzo for a run in the fifth to take the lead for good at 2-1.

The Roos scored a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to take a 4-1 lead and they would need both of them as St. Joseph's finally broke through against Bratton in their last at bat, plating two runs on a Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y./Oceanside) two out two-RBI single but the rally would come up short as DeFillippo grounded out to the shortstop with the tying run on first.

DiLorenzo went the distance, scattering four runs on eight hits and finished with three punchouts in a losing effort to fall to 4-1 on the year.

The nightcap found Cutrone in a familiar spot as he was in another pitcher's duel, this time with Roos starter Travis Bigelow. The pitchers dominated throughout with hits hard to come by for either team. After three scoreless innings, SUNY-Canton broke the scoreless tie with a run in the fourth to take a 1-0 lead.

The Bears gave Cutrone some offensive support in the bottom of the fifth with a Cundari RBI groundout that scored DeFillippo to tie the game at 1-1. Both Cutrone and Bigelow continued to put up zeroes with the best Roos scoring opportunity coming in the sixth when they got a runner on third with one out, but Cutrone induced a pair of groundouts to end the threat. St. Joseph's followed suit getting a runner to third in their half of the sixth but couldn't get the run across.

A perfect seventh inning by Cutrone and Roos reliever John Mancini saw the two teams go to extra innings and the pitching continued to be the story as each pitcher set the side down in order in both the eighth and ninth inning. Cutrone put up another perfect in the tenth even though his pitch count had surpassed 120 on the day and sent the Bears to the plate hoping to break through with the winning run.

Rapp led off the tenth with the first hit in the game since Cutrone singled in the sixth and DeFillippo followed that up with a nicely placed bunt that gave the defense trouble allowing the freshman to beat the throw at the bag. A wild pitch allowed the runners to move into scoring position and McKenna delivered with a shot over the centerfielder's head that scored Rapp to secure the walk-off win.

Cutrone completed the game on 123 pitches, allowing eight hits and one earned run with five strikeouts to pick up the win, improving to 4-1 on the year.

DeFillippo finished the afternoon going 3-for-9 with two runs scored, while Cutrone finished the day 2-for-7. Cundari concluded the day batting 1-for-6 with two RBI and Rapp ended up hitting 2-for-6 with two RBI and scored a run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORES

• Other Contributors: McKenna (1-for-7, RBI)
• Pitching was the story of both games as SUNY-Canton only mustered eight hits in each contest, while the Bears only had six hits in each game.
• Both teams left seven runners on base in the 10-inning nightcap.
• Each team issued five walks on the day, but all five for the Roos came in the second game.

THE BEAR FACTS

• The Bears are now 3-3 all-time against the Roos.
• The 10 innings pitched by Cutrone are the most ever thrown by a Bear in a single-game.
• The walk-off win was the first for St. Joseph's since last year's season opener against Albertus Magnus on March 2, 2013.
• The last time the Bears went 10 innings was ironically against SUNY Canton on April 7, 2012 and McKenna also drove in the winning run on that date as well.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS – STATEN ISLAND

Tomorrow's doubleheader against CCNY has been cancelled so St. Joseph's will now return to action on Wednesday, April 9th against Staten Island at MCU Park with a first pitch of 4:15 p.m.