Baseball Gameday: Bears vs. Valley Forge and Vaughn

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (15-8) tries to extend its winning streak to a season-high eight games as they play a pair of doubleheaders against Valley Forge Christian College and Vaughn College before the Easter Weekend. The Bears will travel to Phoenixville, Pa. to take on the Patriots on Thursday, April 17th at 3 p.m. before returning home to face HVIAC foe Vaughn on Friday, April 18th at 12 p.m.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (15-8) at Valley Forge Christian College (0-16, 0-5 NCCAA)
Thursday, April 17th • 3 p.m.
Phoenixville, Pa.

Vaughn College (0-2) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (15-8)
Friday, April 18th • 12 p.m.
MCU Park • Brooklyn, N.Y.
Live Stats

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to increase their winning streak to a season-high eight games and move a season-high 11 games over .500 with a pair of sweeps.
• The Bears try to continue their strong play in true road games, coming in with an impressive 8-1 mark.
• St. Joseph's tries to improve to 1-0 against Valley Forge and Vaughn as this week's meetings are the first ever contested between the schools.
• The Bears hope to move to 10-2 in the month of April with two sweeps against the Patriots and the Warriors.

Series History

vs. Valley Forge: First Meeting

vs. Vaughn: First Meeting

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: In a slugfest that saw a combined 28 runs scored and 30 hits, St. Joseph's was able to move a season-high seven games over .500 with a high-scoring 16-12 victory over Cairn University on Monday.

St. Joseph's has found its groove, winning 14 of their last 18 games since returning from Florida as they look to secure their second consecutive berth in the USCAA Small College World Series, coming in ranked No. 7 in the latest coaches' poll. The Bears have used an offense that hits .297 on the season and averages 7.0 runs per game to put themselves in a good spot in the USCAA race.

One-time D3baseball.com Team of the Week selection and USCAA and AD3I Player of the Week Joe Mendez continues to supply the power in the St. Joseph's lineup with a team-high seven long balls and 35 RBI. The senior is also batting .338 (25-for-74) on the year with 21 runs scored and has an impressive .730 slugging percentage.

Senior Mike Cundari is batting a team-high .372 on the year and is coming off a 5-for-7 day at the plate at Cairn. The first baseman has 13 RBI and 21 runs scored on the year, while stealing seven bases. Freshman Nicholas LoPrinzi has impressed in his rookie campaign hitting .351 with 13 RBI and 11 runs scored.

Junior Thomas McKenna gives St. Joseph's a top of the order presence with his .329 average and team-high 23 runs. The outfielder is also second on the team with 14 RBI and paces the team with two triples.

Chris Cutrone became the seventh Bear to reach 100 career hits with a 3-for-3 game two versus John Jay on Sunday. The junior is hitting .361 on the season and leads the team with a .506 on base percentage. Cutrone also has made a living on the mound this season going 5-1 with an impressive 3.09 ERA in a team-high 43 2/3 innings.

The Patriot Act

Last Time Out: Valley Forge dropped its 15th and 16th straight games with 13-1 and 16-12 losses to Baptist Bible College on Saturday.

The Patriots come in on a 17-game losing streak dating back to the end of last season and have had its issues with both opposing hitters and pitchers. Valley Forge hits only .187 as a team with a subpar .251 slugging percentage and .285 on base percentage. The Patriots are no better on the hill as they carry a 18.62 team ERA into the contest, allowing opponents to hit .437 on the year.

The leading hitter for Valley Forge is Joshua Strohm who hits .317 on the year with five runs scored, a home run and four RBI. Pacing the Patriots in the RBI department is Jared Boothman who has nine on the year and hits .300 with three doubles and two triples.

Jonathan Manning ranks first on the team with a 8.22 ERA in a team-high 23.0 innings and sports an 0-3 line in four starts. Strohm has made the most starts on the mound for Valley Forge with five and has compiled a 22.05 ERA in 20 innings with a win-loss record of 0-4.

The Way of the Warrior

Last Time Out: Vaughn was swept by Staten Island on April 6th in their first ever games as a varsity team, falling 24-0 and 20-0.

Vaughn has begun its first varsity season and had the inevitable task of trying to defeat the reigning CUNYAC champions Staten Island in their first ever games on April 6th. The Warriors fell 24-0 and 20-0, but were able to record four hits on the day including two by Ramon Marte who went 2-for-4 over the course of the doubleheader.

The leading pitcher for Vaughn was Frederick Thomas who went three innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits to record a team-best ERA of 9.00. Fielding was also an issue for the Warriors as they committed 11 errors between the two games at Staten Island.

Team Comparison

Bears	Nickname	Patriots	Warriors
15-8	Record	0-16 (0-5)	0-2 (0-0)
HVIAC	Conference	NCCAA	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Mike Cundari (.372)	Top Avg.	Joshua Strohm (.317)	Ramon Marte (.500)
Joe Mendez (35)	Top RBI	Jared Boothman (9)	None
Chris Cutrone (27)	Top K	Matt McKenzie (21)	3 tied at ... (1)
.297	Bat. Avg.	.187	.089
.393	Slugging	.251	.111
.394	OBP	.285	.163
161	Runs	30	0
202	Hits	65	4
135	RBI	27	0
48	SB	11	0
4.37	ERA	18.62	27.00
.275	Opp. Avg.	.437	.470
110/97	K/BB	78/91	3/16
.973	Field %	.829	.833