LoPrinzi Knocks 100th Career Hit as Baseball Sweeps Lehman, Completing 4-0 Weekend

BRONX, N.Y. — One day removed from posting 17 runs in a sweep of Staten Island, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team exploded for 34 runs as they completed a perfect weekend sweeping Lehman College, 21-6 and 13-10, on Sunday afternoon to notch their fourth straight victory. In the game two victory, junior Nicholas LoPrinzi (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) knocked a pair of hits to become the ninth Bear in program history to reach 100 career hits.

The Basics

• Final Score (Game 1): St. Joseph's 21, Lehman 6
• Final Score (Game 2): St. Joseph's 13, Lehman 10
• Records: St. Joseph's (4-5), Lehman (2-9)
• Date: March 13, 2016
• Location: Bronx, N.Y.
• Field: Lehman South Field

How it Happened in Game 1

• St. Joseph's got the bats going early pushing three across in the first inning. Brian Luebcke started the scoring with a RBI double and later scoring on a John Condon single.
• Lehman moved on top with a big five-run second belting five hits in the frame, four going for extra bases, highlighted by a Carlo Francisco two-run homer that put the Lightning on the board and within one.
• Luebcke led off the top of the third with a solo blast to cut the deficit to one, and St. Joseph's quickly loaded the bases and erupted for 16 runs to put the game out of reach. The Bears sent a carousel of 21 batters to the plate, facing three different pitchers and belting 12 hits. Connor Pasetti launched his first career homer with a three-run blast. Thomas Pallatto added to the scoring with a bases-clearing triple and Michael Camerada plated three in the inning knocking both a double and a single in two at bats in the frame.
• With a 19-5 lead, starter Rosario DiLorenzo settled in and allowed just one more run and finished with eight strikeouts in going the distance and picking up his first win of the season.
• The Bears added solo runs in the fourth and the seventh to pad the final and the hosts threatened for a big frame in sixth loading the bases with one out, but DiLorenzo silenced the Lightning and kept the frame scoreless with a strikeout and a lineout.

How it Happened in Game 2

• The Bears got on the board early again plating two in the first, Luebcke getting the scoring going again with an RBI single, that also extended his hitting streak to nine. A Francis Rapp two-out single brought home Luebcke and St. Joseph's never trailed in the contest.
• The Lightning made it a one-run game picking up a run in the second but the Bears increased their lead with one run in the fourth on Michael Camerada sacrifice fly and two runs in the fifth, Nicholas LoPrinzi highlighting the frame with a solo blast, his first of the season, that put the Bears up 5-1.
• Juan Arias' two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth cut the deficit in half again but the Lightning couldn't tame the Bears bats as they plated three more in the top of the sixth, all coming unearned after a leadoff miscue.
• LoPrinzi led off the seventh with a base knock to right field to pick up his 100th career hit and the Bears plated five more runs to take a comfortable 13-3 lead. But the Lightning would stage a last-ditch rally in their final at bat against the Bears' relief knocking four straight hits to open in the inning and capitalizing on a Bears miscue with two outs that would have ended the game 13-6. The Lightning would take advantage and brought the tying run to the plate, but Sean O'Melia entered in relief for the final out, striking out Miguel Melendez to pick up his second career save.

For the Bears

• Senior Brian Luebcke continued his hot hitting batting 7-for-10 over the twinbill collecting five RBI, five runs scored, a homer and a pair of doubles.
• Michael Camerada (4-for-7) and Francis Rapp (4-for-8) both accumulated four hits and four runs scored with a double. Camerada drove in four runs, while Rapp brought in a pair.
• John Condon (3-for-7) and Thomas Pallatto (3-for-8) knocked three hits each, Pallato with five runs scored, three RBI and a triple and Condon with three runs and two RBI.
• Starters Connor Pasetti (6 IP, 4 K, 3 ER, 11 H) and Rosario DiLorenzo (7 IP, 8 K, 6 ER, 11 H) both earned the wins on the mound for the Bears, their first of the season.

For the Lightning

• Miguel Melendez led Lehman at the dish batting 5-for-8 on the day with pairs of RBI, runs and doubles.
• Juan Arias and Carlo Francisco both knocked four hits, drove in two runs and launched a homer.

Inside the Box Score

• Both teams combined to launch six home runs, hitting three each.
• Despite the final, the Lightning out hit the Bears in game two, 17-14, and left 11 runners on base in defeat.
• St. Joseph's batted .595 (22-for-37) with runners in scoring position on the day. The Bears leadoff hitters set the table batting .714 (10-for-14) over the twinbill.

The Bear Facts

• After a 0-5 start in Florida with three one-run losses, the Bears move within one game of .500 with four wins over CUNYAC foes.
• The St. Joseph's offense combined for 51 runs over the four-game sweep, holding a +29 run margin of victory for the weekend.
• The 16-run third inning in game one set a new program record for runs in an inning. The 21 runs are the most in a single game since a 26-0 triumph over now Skyline rival Yeshiva in April 2014.
• Luebcke is the only Bear to successfully hit in all nine games this season.
• O'Melia's save is just the 13th in Bears history and his second career save moving him into a tie for second, one behind the all-time saves leader Connor Pasetti with 3.
• St. Joseph's extends their lead in the all-time series to 11-7 and have now won four of the last five meetings.
• LoPrinzi becomes the ninth Bear to join the coveted 100-hit club, reaching the mark in 89 games played, tied for the fifth fastest to hit the mark.

Next Up for St. Joseph's

The Bears will head to Madison, N.J. to face Drew University in a nine-inning single non-conference game on Thursday, March 17th with first pitch at 3:30 p.m. (That game was moved from its originally scheduled date of Mach 16th.) St. Joseph's looks to extend a four-game streak over the Rangers. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com