Luebcke Fires Four-Hit Shutout but Baseball's Rally To Sweep Purchase Stopped in Game-Ending Play at the Plate

BELLEROSE, N.Y. — Senior Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) dazzled in a four-hit game one shutout, fanning seven. But St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) fell behind early and mounted a last inning rally in game two, that would fall short with a game-ending play at the plate that prevented the tying run and secured the split for Purchase College in a pair of Skyline Conference meetings on Sunday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Basics

• Final Score (Game 1): St. Joseph's 9, Purchase 0
• Final Score (Game 2): Purchase 6, St Joseph's 5
• Records: St. Joseph's (14-15, 5-5 Skyline), Purchase (11-18, 6-5 Skyline)
• Date: April 17, 2016
• Location: Bellerose, N.Y.
• Field: Padavan-Preller Field
• SJC Starters (Game 1): Pasetti (RF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (P), Condon (C), LoPrinzi (LF), Pallatto (1B), Brigando (2B), Schwartz (3B), M. Camerada (CF)
• SJC Starters (Game 2): Pasetti (RF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (2B), Condon (DH), LoPrinzi (C), Pallatto (1B), Schwartz (3B), A. Camerada (RF), M. Camerada (CF), Brigando (P)

How it Happened in Game 1

• The Bears pushed across two in the first for an early lead. Thomas Pallatto capped the three-hit rally with a run scoring single.
• As starter Brian Luebcke held the visitors off the scoreboard, the game remained 2-0 until the fifth when he helped his own cause with an RBI single scoring Connor Pasetti who led off the inning with a single.
• The Bears tacked on three more in the sixth on run scoring singles off the bats of Michael Camerada and Pasetti, as both finished 2-for-4 in the opener.
• With the Bears scoring in the final four innings to give Luebcke a healthy cushion, Luebcke completed just the second nine-inning shutout in Bears history, facing two batters over the minimum, striking out seven, walking none in the four-hitter.

How it Happened in Game 2

• Purchase opened scoring with one in the second inning and exploded for five in the third to claim an early 6-0 advantage and knock Bears starter Mitch Brigando off the hill. Patrick Rucci and Taylor Ringold plated two apiece during the span.
• Panther starter Teofilo Ramirez held the Bears to just one hit over the first four innings, keeping the Bears off the board.But the Bears finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth. After Adam Schwartz reached on a fielder's choice, Anthony Camerada laced a double to left to make it 6-1 spoil the shutout.
• Still trailing 6-1 and three outs from defeat, St. Joseph's mounted a furious rally in the bottom of the seventh. Thomas Pallatto led off the inning with a single and Adam Schwartz's double put men on second and third, setting up Anthony Camerada's bases clearing double that forced out Ramirez, with the tying run on deck, down 6-3 and no out.
• Michael Camerada greeted reliever Joseph Stewart with a single and a one-out walk loaded them up for a Luebcke sacrifice fly that cut the deficit to 6-4, but brought two outs. John Condon's punched a single opposite field to load them up again and Nicholas LoPrinzi's hit a single to right easily scoring one, but Francis Rapp was nailed in a close at the plate as he raced home from second representing the tying run and Purchase escaped with a split.

For the Bears

• Anthony Camerada (2-for-3, 3 RBI, R, 2 2B) led game two with three RBI on a pair of doubles.
• Brian Luebcke (2-for-7, 3 RBI, R) plated three as well, two in the opener and one more in game two.
• Francis Rapp (3-for-6, 2 R), Michael Camerada (3-for-7, RBI, 2 R, 2B) and Connor Pasetii (3-for-8, 2 RBI, R) collected three hits apiece.
• In addition to his hitting, Brian Luebcke (9.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 7 K) spun a dominant complete-game shutout in the opener to improve to 4-1. In game two, Mitch Brigando (2.2 IP, 4 ER) was stuck with the loss after surrendering four early runs.
• Kevin White (2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER) tossed two scoreless innings of one-hit ball in relief in game two to maintain the deficit.

For the Panthers

• Patrick Rucci (3-for-4, 2 RBI, R) and Ronald Pressley (2-for-3, 2 RBI) led the Panthers with a pair of RBI apiece, all coming in game two.
• Brian Cunningham (3-for-6, 2 R, 2 2B) led the capper with three hits, two of them doubles.
• Jonathan Deacon (5.1 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 1 K) suffered the loss in game one, while Teofilo Ramirez (6.0 IP, 4 ER, 7 H, 3 K) earned the win in game two after Joseph Stewart cleaned up in the seventh for the save.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Joseph's outhit Purchase 12-4 in a dominant game one showing, but the Panthers' bats came alive for 14 hits in game two.
• Connor Pasetti extended his reached base safely streak to 10 games.

The Bear Facts

• Striking out seven today, Brian Luebcke sits on 99 career strikeouts. He's on pace to be the second fastest to the mark and just the sixth Bear to reach the milestone.
• The only other Bear to toss a nine-inning shutout was Paul Piccirillo '13 who blanked CCNY in 2012, striking out nine in a three-hitter, facing just 28 batters.
• Luebcke moves into a four-way tie with Mitch Brigando, Rosario DiLorenzo and Piccirillo for the Bears record with two shutouts.
• After splitting both weekend Skyline Conference doubleheaders, St. Joseph's record now stands at 14-15 overall while remaining even at 5-5 in league play. Through today's games, the Bears now sit in solo sixth, in Skyline Tournament position, and just a half-game behind fifth (Purchase) and a full game behind fourth (SJC Long Island).
• Another Bears victory in game one could prove important at the end of the season with the nine-inning victory one of the tiebreaker criteria. In all three splits this season (Maritime, SJC Long Island, Purchase), the Bears have won the first game.
• The Bears suffered a similar fate to Purchase in 2013 at Preller Field when the tying run was cut down in a game-ending play at home on a sacrifice fly attempt in a 9-8 loss.
• Purchase now holds an 8-3 edge in the all-time series.

Next Up for St. Joseph's

The Bears open a busy week seven games in five days returning to the diamond for a non-conference road tilt against John Jay on Wednesday, April 20 starting at 4 p.m.