Camerada and Condon Knock Three Hits Each as Baseball Downs Baruch, 9-4

BELLEROSE, N.Y. — Riding a strong whole-staff pitching effort and using a big five-run third inning, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) closed out March with a 9-4 non-conference victory over Baruch College on Thursday afternoon in their final tune-up before opening Skyline Conference play this weekend. Michael Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) and John Condon (Oceanside, N.Y./Oceanside) both knocked three hits each with Camerada launching his second home run of the season.

The Basics

• Final Score: St. Joseph's 9, Baruch 4
• Records: St. Joseph's (9-7), Baruch (6-12)
• Date: March 31, 2016
• Location: Bellerose, N.Y.
• Field: Padavan-Preller Field
• SJC Starters: Arroyo (RF), McGreevy (2B), Luebcke (P/DH), Condon (1B), LoPrinzi (LF), Rapp (SS), Schwartz (3B), Salem (C), M. Camerada (CF)

How it Happened

• Baruch seized an early lead when Jasdeep Buttar launched his first home run of the season with two-outs in the first and the Bearcats held the lead until the third.
• Hitless in the first two frames, the Bears erupted for five runs in the bottom of the third off five hits. Brandon Salem and Michael Camerada led off frame with back to back singles. Patrick McGreevy later delivered Salem home with a one-out single and the Bears took advantage of a Bearcat miscue as Nicholas LoPrinzi roped a double and Francis Rapp laced a double that scored three more runs unearned in the extended inning.
• Baruch pushed a solo run across in the fourth after John Paul Cattaro tripled with two outs and scored on a Dan Daley single, but St. Joseph's countered with a solo run of their own in the home half of the inning on Camerada's solo blast with one out, his second home run of the season.
• The Bearcats threatened in the sixth loading the bases but the defense held pat turning a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, the first of three double plays for the Bears defense. St. Joseph's tacked on another run in the bottom half on a two-out single from John Condon, extending their lead to 7-2.
• The visitors made some noise again in the seventh, loading the bases again with one out, but this time broke through for two runs. Michael McGroaty drew a bases-loaded walk and Buttar drove in his second run of the day with a sacrifice fly.
• But that would be all the scoring for the Bearcats and the Bears tacked on two runs in the eighth on Condon's two-run single for the final deficit.

For the Bears

• The Bears threw nine different pitchers in the team-pitching effort. Mitch Brigando (0 H, 1 K), Rosario DiLorenzo (1 H, 1 K), Kevin White (0 H), Anthony Amatuzzi (2 H), Thomas Pallato (0 H) and Sean O'Melia (0 H) all tossed scoreless frames with only Pallato working over an inning, facing the minimum five batters in 1.2 innings of work. DiLorenzo takes the win, improving to 3-2 on the season in only his second relief appearance in his four-year career.
• John Condon batted 3-for-5 with three RBI and Michael Camerada (3-for-4) also finished with three hits, one RBI on his second home run of the season.
• Nicholas LoPrinzi (2-for-5, 2 RBI, 2B) and Francis Rapp (2-for-4, 1 RBI) both knocked a pair of hits each, rounding out four with multi-hit games.
• Patrick McGreevy (1-for-3, 2 R, RBI) and Brian Luebcke (1-for-4, RBI, 2 R, 2B) also drove in a run each.

For the Bearcats

• Jasdeep Buttar led the visitors at the plate with a 2-for-3 effort, with 2 RBI and his first home run of the season.
• Robert McMahon also batted 2-for-3 with a double.
• Bryan Flannery took the loss falling to 1-2, striking out four over five innings of work with only two of his six runs allowed coming unearned.

Inside the Box Score

• Both teams combined for five double plays on the game. The Bears turned three in the game, all coming in the final four innings.
• The Bears pitching staff issued just one walk on the day and held the Bearcats to nine hits.
• St. Joseph's helped set the table with the leadoff hitter reaching successfully in five of eight innings.

The Bear Facts

• The Bears close their five-game home stand at 4-1 and finish March with a 9-4 record.
• Brian Luebcke extends his reached base safely streak to 16 games, hitting successfully in all but one game. He's currently on a five-game hitting streak.
• John Condon extends his hitting streak to a team-long seven games.
• Francis Rapp inches closer to becoming the third Bear to join the 100-hit club this season, currently at 95 hits.
• The Bears have now won two straight over Baruch and close the gap in the all-time series to 6-5.

Next Up for St. Joseph's

After five games at home, the Bears will now play five straight road games and opens Skyline Conference play on Saturday, April 2 facing Maritime College in a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com.