McKenna Belts 200th Hit as Baseball Rolls to Victory over Baruch, 13-5

BELLEROSE, N.Y.--The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) offense continued their hot streak at the plate, scoring in six different innings, as they defeated Baruch College, 13-5, Saturday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Bears (18-16) have won six of their last seven games, including the last three in a row. They now have their best record of the season as they move toward their USCAA National Championships berth later in the month.

Ten different St. Joseph's players connected a hit on the afternoon, including eight of the starting nine players, while eight different players drove in a run. The team has totaled 34 runs in their last three games.

Senior Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) had a run batted in, two runs scored and two hits on the day, becoming the first Bear to reach 200 hits for their career. He continues to stay on a tear at the plate, extending his Bears-record hit streak to 18 games. Chris Cutrone (Levittown, N.Y./Island Trees) had two doubles and two RBI, as well as striking out seven batters on the mound over 6.2 innings to win his second straight decision.

Francis Rapp (Baldwin, N.Y./Oceanside) and Michael Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) each plated two runs each. Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) had two hits to keep his hot hitting going with a 10-game hitting streak of his own, while Domenick Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y/Monsignor Farrell), Nicholas LoPrinzi (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and Vinny Rossi (Bayside, N.Y./Holy Cross) each tallied a run batted in.

John Paul Cattaro had three hits and two runs for the Bearcats (12-21). Zachary Uher and Eric Ulino each homered in the losing effort.

Baruch struck first on a Nicholas Calabrese bases-loaded walk in the first inning, but Cutrone escaped further trouble with a strikeout. In the bottom of the second, St. Joseph's grabbed the lead on a D. Camerada RBI single and two runs scoring on Rossi's double. LoPrinzi would then push the lead to three on a run-scoring triple into right-center in the fourth.

Uher would cut the deficit to one on a two-run shot in the top of the fifth, but the Bears would respond with a four-run bottom half of the frame. Cutrone laced a two-run double, then Rapp would add a two-run double of his own to move to 8-3. 

Both teams would score two runs in each half of the sixth inning, moving the score to 10-5. St. Joseph's would tack on two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a Bobby Perretti (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) RBI single and McKenna's team-leading 26th run batted in on a base hit of his own.

Thomas Decapua (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and James Moran (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xavier) would combine for 2.1 scoreless frames in relief to close out the win for the Bears. 

St. Joseph's would look to close the weekend on a five-game winning streak and winning eight of their last nine when they have a doubleheader showdown with Skyline Conference opponent Yeshiva tomorrow. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.