Baseball Gameday: Bears vs. Drew and CCNY

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (24-9) travels to Drew University (17-19) on Saturday, May 3rd for a doubleheader at 12 p.m. before hosting CCNY (12-13-1) on Sunday, May 4th at 10:30 a.m., looking to finish regular season on five-game winning streak with a pair of sweeps.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (24-9) at Drew University (17-19, 10-8 Landmark)
Saturday, May 3rd • 12 p.m.
Doc Young Field • Madison, N.J.
Live Stats

City College of New York (12-13-1, 3-7 CUNYAC) vs. St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (24-9)
Sunday, May 4th • 10:30 a.m.
SJC Outdoor Complex • Patchogue, N.Y.
Live Stats | Video | Directions

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's looks to finish the regular season on a five-game winning streak and with a pair of sweeps would be winners of 17 of their last 18 games heading into their second consecutive USCAA Small College World Series appearance.
• With a sweep of Drew, the Bears would conclude their road slate an impressive 14-1 with the 14 road wins being the most in school history.
• St. Joseph's looks to sweep the season series and win their seventh straight game versus CCNY.
• The Bears try to win their third straight matchup with Drew and even up the all-time series.
• Mike Cundari needs one RBI to become second Bear ever to reach 100 RBI, while Vinny Rossi is one hit shy of the 100-hit plateau.
• Thomas McKenna needs two stolen bases to become St. Joseph's all-time leader in that category.
• Drew hopes to end their regular season on a high note as they enter Saturday's matchup on a three-game winning streak.

Series History

vs. Drew: St. Joseph's trails the all-time series against the Rangers 3-2, but have won the last meetings including a 12-1 win at Drew on March 28th of last year.

vs. CCNY: The Bears hold a 6-3 edge in the all-time series and have earned wins in each of the last five meetings including a 6-1 win on April 10th earlier this season.

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: St. Joseph's needed late game heroics to salvage a split with Lehman College on Senior Day Sunday afternoon at MCU Park, earning a 10-9 walk-off win in the nightcap after dropping a 2-0 decision in the opener.

The Bears have had a season to remember up to this date, setting school records in wins (24), longest winning streak (12), runs scored (284) and are on pace to set the school record for lowest ERA in a season at 3.92. St. Joseph's heads into the USCAA Small College World Series on fire at the right time, having won 13 of their last 14 games. The bats and pitching have equally contributed to the Bears recent success with the offense batting .353 (156-for-442) with 167 runs scored, while the pitching staff has compiled a nifty 2.82 ERA over the 14-game stretch.

Senior Mike Cundari has been a huge part of the St. Joseph's success over the last 14 games, batting .438 (21-for-48) with a team-high 18 RBI along with 13 runs scored. The first baseman has also been strong defensively not committing an error all season. Fellow senior Joe Mendez winds down his career having had his best statistical season as a Bear, hitting .349 with a school-record eight jacks and 43 RBI on the season. The outfielder also leads the team with 11 doubles and a .717 slugging percentage and is second with 33 runs scored.

Adding a spark to the top of the order is junior Thomas McKenna, who is batting .360 on the year with a team-high 38 runs scored, 17 stolen bases and 41 hits, while driving in 23 runs and smacking a team-high five triples. The outfielder has been an integral part of igniting the Bears lineup as the team is 13-1 when he is in the leadoff spot.

The ace of the staff continues to be this week's USCAA Pitcher and AD3I Player of the Week junior Chris Cutrone who has been dominant on the mound all season, sporting a 2.72 ERA in 59 2/3 innings and is coming off his fifth complete game of the season versus Lehman. The second baseman/pitcher is 6-2 and has a team-high 41 strikeouts, while batting .326 with 23 runs and 21 RBI.

The Lone Ranger

Last Time Out: Drew won their Landmark finale against the University of Scranton on Sunday, earning a 9-5 triumph for their third win in a row.

The Rangers come into this weekend's game looking to finish the season at .500 with a sweep of the Bears. The Rangers belong to the Landmark Conference which currently has member institution Moravian ranked No. 22 in the nation. Despite finishing with an above .500 record in league play, Drew is last in the conference in hitting, batting .255 on the year with a league-low 157 runs.

This week's Landmark Player of the Week Steve Kowalski leads the Rangers attack with a team-high .370 batting average and 25 runs scored in 127 at bats. The junior also has 16 RBI on the year and has stolen a Landmark-high 23 bases in 26 attempts. Leading the team in the RBI department is Al Krause who has 19 on the year and is batting .278 with 17 runs scored.

Anchoring the pitching staff is Dylan Baxter who is 3-2 with a 4.12 ERA in six starts. The sophomore has tossed a team-high three complete games and has pitched in a team-high 43 2/3 innings.

Beaver's Dam

Last Time Out: CCNY split a doubleheader with Delaware Valley College on Sunday, falling 8-1 in the opener before salvaging the split with a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.

Since starting the season 6-3-1 the Beavers have gone 6-10 and have struggled offensively, batting only .244 as a team. CCNY has relied on a pitching staff that has compiled a 4.45 ERA and holds opponents to a .259 batting average. The Beavers are a threat on the basepaths, leading the CUNYAC with 70 stolen bases on the year.

Offensively, CCNY is led by one-time CUNYAC Player of the Week Gabriel Pena who is second in the CUNYAC with a .381 batting average and leads his team with three jacks and 20 runs scored, while having 12 runs batted in. Adrian Pena is another offensive contributor for the Beavers, hitting .275 with a team-high 14 RBI in 80 at bats. Mike Smith gives CCNY another fixture in their lineup, accumulating a .286 average with 17 runs scored and 11 RBI on the year.

On the mound, one-time CUNYAC Pitcher of the Week Jose Aquino leads the team with a 6-2 record, striking out 39 batters over 46.0 innings pitched with an impressive 2.54 earned run average, good for fourth-best in the CUNYAC.

Team Comparison

* Statistics for games played through Friday, May 2nd

Bears	Nickname	Rangers	Beavers
24-9	Record	17-19 (10-8)	12-13-1 (3-7)
HVIAC	Conference	Landmark	CUNYAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
Mike Cundari (.364)	Top Avg.	Steve Kowalski (.370)	Gabriel Pena (.381)
Joe Mendez (43)	Top RBI	Al Krause (19)	Adrian Pena (14)
Chris Cutrone (41)	Top K	Dylan Baxter, Drew Blanco (18)	Jose Aquino (39)
.320	Bat. Avg.	.255	.244
.434	Slugging	.306	.317
.419	OBP	.326	.346
284	Runs	157	101
318	Hits	285	175
242	RBI	141	82
89	SB	35	70
3.92	ERA	4.87	4.45
.266	Opp. Avg.	.301	.259
166/115	K/BB	146/110	124/109
.969	Field %	.963	.947