Cold Freezes Offense as Baseball Drops Two to Penn State Abington

JENKINTOWN, Pa. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team fell to level .500 as the offense mustered just four runs over a non-conference doubleheader road sweep at the hands of Penn State Abington, falling 12-3 and 4-1 on a cold and windy Sunday afternoon of baseball.

The Basics

• Final Score (Game 1): Penn St.-Abington 12, St. Joseph's 3
• Final Score (Game 2): Penn St.-Abington 4, St. Joseph's 1
• Records: Penn St.-Abington (9-13), St. Joseph's (10-10)
• Date: April 3, 2016
• Location: Jenkintown, Pa.
• Field: Alverthorpe Park
• SJC Starters (Game 1): Pasetti (LF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (2B), Condon (DH), LoPrinzi (C), Pallatto (1B), Schwartz (3B), A. Camerada (RF), M. Camerada (CF), DiLorenzo (P)
• SJC Starters (Game 2): Arroyo (RF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (2B), Condon (DH), LoPrinzi (1B), Schwartz (3B), McGreevy (LF), Salem (C), M. Camerada (CF), Pasetti (P)

How it Happened in Game 1

• A two-hit rally in the first saw Penn State move up 1-0 early. With the Bears offense still quiet, the Nittany Lions tacked on two more in the third inning on consecutive run-scoring singles from Anthony Pletscher and Trey Guaglionona.
• Starter Ted Smallwood shutout St. Joseph's offense in the first four innings, surrendering just two hits. But the Bears broke through in the fifth. A walk, single and sacrifice bunt placed men on second and third, setting up Anthony Camerada's RBI groundout.
• Penn State asserted control in the bottom half of the fifth with a seven-hit, seven-run outburst. Austin Mikula highlighted the rally with a bases loaded, two-RBI single.
• Francis Rapp delivered a run-scoring double in a two-run sixth inning, but the Nittany Lions countered with two of their own in the bottom half and Pedro Aldebol tossed a scoreless seventh to shut the door.

How it Happened in Game 2

• Starters Connor Pasetti and Rob Diamond tossed up zeroes for the first two-and-a-half innings.
• Penn State pushed three across in the bottom of the third. Max German broke the scoreless tie with an RBI single and Matt Meyers' double plated two.
• The Bears went down in order in the top fourth before the Nittany Lions tacked on one more in the home half to take a 4-0 lead.
• St. Joseph's broke the shutout in the seventh. Adam Schwartz led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third and reached home on a fielder's choice. But reliever Greg Mugnier buckled down for the third and final out to cement the sweep.

For the Bears

• Brian Luebcke (3-for-6) led the Bears in hitting, collecting all three of his base knocks in game two.
• Anthony Camerada (1-for-3, RBI, 2B), Francis Rapp (1-for-5, RBI, 2B, R) and Michael Camerada (RBI, R) all drove in one RBI apiece.
• Connor Pasetti (2-for-3, R) led St. Joseph's with a pair of hits in the opener.
• Rosario DiLorenzo (3-3) suffered the loss in game one, allowing five earned runs in five innings of work.
• Connor Pasetti (2-2) went the distance in game two and surrendered four earned runs in six innings of work, but was stuck with the loss.

For the Nittany Lions

• Max German (4-for-7, 2 RBI, 2B, 2 R) led Penn State in hitting, slugging a pair of hits in each end of the doubleheader.
• Austin Mikula finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, all in game one.
• Anthony Pletscher (3-for-7, 3 RBI, 3 R), Pat Fiztgerald (3-for-7, RBI, 2B, 3 R) and Matt Meyers (3-for-7, 2 RBI, 2 2B, R) also led the offensive attack.
• Ted Smallwood (3-1) earned the victory in game one, holding the Bears to one run and six hits in six innings of work.
• Rob Diamond improved to 2-0 in game two, shutting out the Bears for five innings before handing it over to the bullpen.

Inside the Box Score

• Penn State outhit St. Joseph's 23-12 on the afternoon.
• The hosts batted 9-for-19 (.474) with two outs on the afternoon and drove in seven of their 16 runs with two outs.
• The Bears batted 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position and 1-for-14 with two outs.
• St. Joseph's never led in both ends of the twinbill.

The Bear Facts

• The Bears fall even at 10-10 on the season and 5-5 on the road.
• Penn State draws first blood in the first all-time meeting with St. Joseph's

Next Up for St. Joseph's

The Bears return to Brooklyn, but wrap up a five-game road stand meeting New York University at MCU Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, on Wednesday, April 6 for a non-conference meeting. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. with live stats available on SJCBears.com.