Offense Explodes for 26 Hits and 17 Runs as Baseball Sweeps Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Starters Mitch Brigando (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) each earned victories and the offense belted 26 hits on the day as the St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) baseball team earned their first two victories of the season in a doubleheader sweep of the College of Staten Island on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Final Score (Game 1): St. Joseph's 11, Staten Island 5
• Final Score (Game 2): St. Joseph's 6, Staten Island 1
• Records: St. Joseph's (2-5), Staten Island (5-3)
• Date: March 12, 2016
• Location: Staten Island, N.Y.
• Field: CSI Baseball Complex

How it Happened in Game 1

• In the opening frame, back-to-back RBI-singles from John Condon and Nicholas LoPrinzi gave the Bears and early 2-0 advantage. But Staten Island charged back with three runs in the bottom half of a busy first. Joe Palmeri highlighted the rally with an RBI-double and the Dolphins tacked on two more unearned runs for a 3-2 lead.
• After a scoreless second inning, St. Joseph's bats came back alive in the third. Consecutive RBI-singles from Thomas Pallatto, Adam Schwartz and Brandon Salem brought the Bears back up 5-3. But in the bottom half the Dolphins drew even at 5-all, using three walks, one hit batter and one Bears error to plate two runs.
• In the fourth, the Bears took advantage of two Staten Island fielding miscues to bring home the go-ahead run. They tacked on one more in the fifth and sixth innings and then broke the game open with three more in the seventh highlighted by Brian Luebcke's run-scoring triple.
• Starter Mitch Brigando struck out four and allowed just one earned run over four innings to earn the victory. Relievers Anthony Amatuzzi and Jonathan Schneider held the Dolphins scoreless for the final three innings to cement the win, Amatuzzi allowing just one hit over 2 2/3 innings.

How it Happened in Game 2

• Michael Camerada drew first blood with a run scoring single in the top of the second inning. In the third, Thomas Pallatto laced a double to left-center to plate two more insurance runs.
• Starter Brian Luebcke held the Dolphins scoreless before they broke through with one in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
• Luebcke helped his own cause with a two-RBI double in a three-run seventh inning before slamming the door in the bottom half to earn the complete-game, four-hit, six-strikeout victory.

For the Bears

• Michael Camerada (4-for-6), Adam Schwartz (4-for-7) and Thomas Pallatto (4-for-8) led a 26-hit day on offense.
• Pallatto led the Bears with a team-high three RBI's on the afternoon and was the only Bear with multi-hit games in both ends of the twinbill. Camerada, Brian Luebcke and John Condon also drove in two apiece.
• In game one, seven different Bears knocked two-or-more hits (Luebcke, Condon, Pallatto, Schwartz, M. Camerada, Connor Pasetti, Anthony DeFillippo) as the Bears belted out season highs of 18 hits and 11 runs.
• Starters Mitch Brigando and Brian Luebcke each picked up victories. In the opener, Brigando allowed one earned run in four innings. Luebcke followed that up with a one-run seven-inning complete game. Both improved to 1-1 on the season.

For the Dolphins

• Nick Delprete finished with a team-best four hits in six at bats on the day. Joe Palmeri chipped in a 3-for-6, one-RBI performance with the lumber.
• Starters Tom Musso and Christian Capellan each suffered defeats. Musso surrendered six earned in four innings in game one, while Capellan allowed four across in 6.1 innings of work in game two.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Joseph's was opportunistic batting .382 (13-34) with runners in scoring position on the afternoon. Conversely the Dolphins were just .100 (2-20) with runners in scoring position.
• The Bears' pitching surrendered just 11 hits on the day, seven in game one and four in the capper.

The Bear Facts

• The only Bear to hit successfully in every game this season, Brian Luebcke extended his hitting streak to seven games.
• The victories snap a Bears five-game skid opening the season in Florida.
• The sweep was the first sweep of Staten Island, the squads meeting each year since 2008 for a doubleheader. St. Joseph's ends a three-game skid in the all-time series and improves to 6-13.
• Staten Island entered the game on a four-game streak and the defending CUNYAC champions were picked to repeat in the preseason CUNYAC coaches poll.

Next Up for St. Joseph's

The Bears return to action tomorrow, Sunday, March 13, for another CUNYAC doubleheader, traveling up to the Bronx to meet Lehman starting at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available at SJCBears.com.