McKenna, Luebcke Stay Hot at the Plate as Baseball Defeats Cairn to Move Above .500

BELLROSE, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team got production from the top of their lineup and a strong team pitching performance as they defeated Cairn College, 10-2, Thursday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Bears (17-16) are now winners of five of their last six and move above .500 for the first time this season. 

Senior outfielder Thomas McKenna (Bellrose, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) scored three times had two hits for St. Joseph's including a leadoff home run in the first inning (fifth of the season) that gave the Bears the lead for good. He extended his Bears-record hitting streak to 17 games and now has 11 career home runs (ranked third in school history).

Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) added two hits and two runs batted in. The junior has been on a tear and is currently on an eight-game hitting streak, batting .448 with nine RBI and eight runs scored over the span.

Eight different Bears combined for 14 hits and five had multi-hit games. Senior Chris Cutrone (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) knocked two hits with two RBI, Francis Rapp (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) had two hits with a RBI and run scored and Michael Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) had three hits. Senior Vinny Rossi (Bayside, N.Y./Holy Cross) chipped in two RBI.

Sophomore starting pitcher Mitch Brigando (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) tossed five scoreless frames and struck out six batters to improve his team-best record to 7-1. Anthony Amatuzzi (Staten Island, N.Y./Xaverian) pitched a perfect inning in relief, while James Moran (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) and Anthony Inserillo (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) each contributed a scoreless inning apiece.

Joey Nieves-Markee had four hits in the leadoff spot for the Highlanders (8-27), while both Caleb Lang and Zachary Legh each plated runs in the ninth inning in the losing effort.

St. Joseph's wasted little time getting on the board with McKenna's solo shot and a sacrifice fly by Rapp giving the Bears a 2-0 lead in the first. Brigando then escaped trouble with no runs in the next two innings, including getting a strikeout to escape a bases-loaded jam in the third. Rossi would connect on a two-run single in the bottom half of the third to move their lead to 4-0.

The Bears maintained their 4-0 lead until the sixth, generating six runs over the next three frames to build a commanding 10-0 advantage heading to the final frame. Cairn would strike for two runs in the ninth to spoil the shutout, but the lead was too large to overcome.

St. Joseph's now awaits hearing whether they will receieve their third straight United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series berth. The 10-team field will be announced tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. on TheUSCAA.com

The Bears look to continue their winning ways as they wrap up the regular season with a hopeful USCAA berth in hand. The Bears will play a three-game set this weekend welcoming Baruch to Padavan-Preller Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. and hosting Yeshiva for a doubleheader on Sunday starting at 2 p.m.