Mendez Breaks Career Hit Mark and Vargas Tosses Three-Hitter as Baseball Dominates Vaughn in Sweep

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Senior Joe Mendez (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) became the Bears all-time leader in career hits and senior Chris Vargas (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) tossed a three-hitter as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team put 40 runs on the board to complete a doubleheader sweep of Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) opponent Vaughn College, defeating the Warriors 25-0 in the opener and 15-0 in game two on Friday afternoon at MCU Park.

Mendez came into today's games tied with Kevin Diaz for first place on the all-time hit list with 158 base knocks. The senior would eclipse the mark in game one with an RBI single up the middle in the bottom of the first and finished the afternoon 2-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run, two runs and two RBI. The home run is his eighth on the season which breaks the single-season record of seven set by Diaz as well.

St. Joseph's (19-8, 1-0 HVIAC) extends their winning streak to a season-high eight games with the sweep and have won 13 of their last 15, while Vaughn (0-4, 0-1 HVIAC) remains winless in their inaugural varsity season.

Vargas made the start on the mound for the Bears in game one, his first of the season, and retired the Warriors in order in the top of the first to set the table for an offensive explosion by St. Joseph's in the home half of the inning. 

The Bears had little problems with Vaughn pitching in the frame as they sent 16 batters to the plate with 12 of them coming across to score. St. Joseph's smacked nine hits in the inning and used four Warrior miscues to take a 12-0 lead after one inning.  The Bears scored seven of the runs before Vaughn could record an out and used RBI singles from senior Mike Cundari (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's), Mendez, freshman Nicholas LoPrinzi (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and a junior Domenick Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) two-RBI single to right to take the 7-0 lead.

After the Warriors recorded the first out of the frame on an infield fly popup to third, Cundari struck again with a two-RBI double to left, senior Chris Pacifico (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) produced an RBI groundout and senior Simon Diaz (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) came through with a two-run single to right to finish off the big inning, putting little doubt in the outcome as 15 different Bears recorded a hit in the game.

The Bears plated nine more in the ninth, added a run in the third and three in the fourth, aided by an offense that pounded out 20 hits and a Vaughn defense that committed 11 errors. Vargas was sharp on the mound going the entire five innings, allowing only the three hits and no runs with seven punchouts to pick up his first win of the season and move to 1-0.

The nightcap saw St. Joseph's once again dominate Warriors pitching as they recorded 13 hits and scored multiple runs in all four at bats. Cundari led off the scoring in the first with a sacrifice fly to centerfield before Mendez crushed a ball that went over the leftfielder's head and he made it all the way around in time to score for an inside-the-park homer to put the Bears up 2-0.

St. Joseph's put three across in the second and had five run innings in the third and fourth as the Bears emptied the bench with nine different players recording a hit to secure the sweep. Sophomore Michael Faulkner (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) made the start on the hill in the nightcap and pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the victory and improve to 2-0.

Junior Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) ended the day 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI. Cundari ended up 2-for-3 with a run scored and four RBI, while freshman Anthony DeFillippo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) went 3-for-7 with four runs and three RBI. Freshman Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y./Oceanside) finished the day 4-for-6, scoring six runs and drove in five. Camerada concluded the afternoon 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two runs batted in. Diaz came through with a 2-for-5 day, driving in three runs and scoring a run. Freshman Brandon Salem (Franklin Square, N.Y./Valley Stream North) batted a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Other Contributors: Pacifico (2-for-5, 3 RBI, 2 R) Anthony Amatuzzi (1-for-2, RBI) Connor Pasetti (1-for-2, 2 R, IP, H, 0 R) LoPrinzi (3-for-4, 4 R, 2 RBI, IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 K) Anthony Inserillo (IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K)
• 16 different Bears recorded a hit on the day.
• Of the Bears 40 runs on the day only 22 were earned as the Warriors ended with 14 errors.
• St. Joseph's recorded eight stolen bases with McKenna grabbing three of them.

THE BEAR FACTS

• Mendez becomes the all-time hit leader in 129 games.
• The 12 runs in the first inning of game one was one shy of the most ever in an inning set against Gallaudet on April 10, 2010.
• The 25-run margin of victory in the opener is the largest ever, surpassing the 23-run victory against Lincoln (Pa.) on April 18, 2009.
• Vinny Rossi is now six hits shy of 100 for his career after going 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
• Nicholas Calamia, Pasetti and Amatuzzi all picked up their first collegiate hits, while Pacifico and Diaz each collected their first hits of the season.
• The appearance on the mound for LoPrinzi was the first of his career.
• In the latest USCAA Coaches' Poll released today the Bears find themselves in a tie for 7th.

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS – CCNY

St. Joseph's enjoys the holiday weekend before returning to the field on Monday, April 21st for a home game versus CCNY at MCU Park beginning at 4 p.m. Live stats for the contest will be available at SJCBears.com.