Baseball Clinches First Skyline Championship Berth With Dominant Win Over Mount Saint Mary

BELLEROSE, N.Y. — Senior Brian Luebcke (Astoria, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) set multiple single-season program batting records and tossed a complete-game three-hitter as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team belted out 14 hits and plated 11 runs in a run-rule victory over Mount Saint Mary College that clinched a Skyline Championship berth and their fourth-straight 20-win campaign. The Knights jumped ahead early in game two to also clinch a tournament berth, as the Bears seventh-inning rally would come up short with the tying run at the plate.

The Basics

• Final Score (Game 1): St. Joseph's 11, Mount Saint Mary 1
• Final Score (Game 2): Mount Saint Mary 6, St. Joseph's 3
• Records: St. Joseph's (20-18, 8-8 Skyline), Mount Saint Mary (14-24, 8-8 Skyline)
• Date: April 30, 2016
• Location: Bellerose, N.Y.
• Field: Padavan-Preller Field
• SJC Starters (Game 1): Pasetti (RF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (P), Condon (C), LoPrinzi (LF), Schwartz (3B), Pallatto (1B), McGreevy (2B), M. Camerada (CF)
• SJC Starters (Game 2): Pasetti (LF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (2B), Condon (DH), LoPrinzi (C), Schwartz (3B), A. Camerada (RF), Pallatto (1B), M. Camerada (CF), DiLorenzo (P)

How it Happened in Game 1

• Mount Saint Mary wasted no time taking an early lead after Matt Cahill led the game off with a double and later scored on a grounder.
• The Bears took control of the game with a big five-run second as the visitors committed four errors in the frame. Francis Rapp capped off the inning with a two-out RBI single.
• Adam Schwartz's and Patrick McGreevy's singles in the third helped push across two runs and Nicholas LoPrinzi's two-run blast in the fourth gave the Bears a 9-1 lead.
• MSMC threatened in the fifth loading the bases with no out, but came away empty-handed as Brian Luebcke induced a 1-2-3 double play and escaped the inning unscathed with a popup.
• Luebcke knocked his second double of the game in the sixth, breaking the single-season hits record and tying the single-season doubles record and Nick LoPrinzi knocked a two-out single to put SJC over the 10-run threshold.
• Luebcke finished off the run-rule victory with a 1-2-3 seventh, improving to 6-1 with his fifth complete game of the season.

How it Happened in Game 2

• Mount Saint Mary struck in the second inning for an early 4-0 lead. The Knights slugged six hits in the frame, highlighted by a two-RBI double off the bat of Louie Rivera.
• With the Bears' offense still dormant, Mount Saint Mary tacked on one in the third inning on Tom Huvane's run-scoring single and then one more in the fifth on Vincenzo Pepe's RBI knock.
• In the bottom of the fifth, Brian Luebcke took starter Kevin Duffy deep to break the shutout and make it 5-1.
• Reliever Anthony Amatuzzi held the Knights scoreless in the sixth and St. Joseph's offense created one more in the bottom half to inch closer. After Adam Schwartz reached on an error to start the inning, Thomas Pallatto's groundout brought him home later in the frame.
• Kevin White tossed a perfect frame in the top of the seventh to maintain a 6-2 deficit for the Bears final at bat and threatened in the home half. Francis Rapp led off the frame with a single to center and advanced to second on a fielding error. With one out, John Condon singled to put men on the corners and Nicholas LoPrinzi drew a walk to load them up and bring the tying run to the plate. Schwartz's sacrifice fly made it 6-3, but brought the Bears to their final out, and reliever Sean Betterly collected himself and delivered a strikeout for the final out to earn the split and also eventually earning a postseason berth for the Knights.

For the Bears

• Nicholas LoPrinzi (3-for-6, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R) and Brian Luebcke (3-for-8, HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2 2B) delivered three hits and one home run apiece. LoPrinzi led the Bears with three RBI on the day, all in game one. Luebcke's seventh home run of the season moves him back into a tie for the league lead.
• Francis Rapp (5-for-8, RBI, 2 R, 2B) and John Condon (5-for-8, 2 R, 3B) each hit safely a team-high five times in the twinbill.
• Adam Schwartz (2-for-7, 2 RBI, 2 R) slugged a pair of hits and drove in two, one in each contest.
• Along with his hitting, Luebcke (7.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 3 SO) picked up the complete-game victory in the opener to improve his record to 6-1. Rosario DiLorenzo (3.0 IP, 5 ER) suffered the loss in game two.

For the Knights

• Rob Peccerillo (3-for-6, RBI) and Tom Huvane (3-for-7, RBI, R) each slugged three hits and plated one.
• Matt Cahill (3-for-6, R, 2 2B) also slugged three hits, two of them doubles.
• Louie Rivera (2-for-6, 2 RBI, R, 2B) led the Knights with a pair of RBI, both in game two.
• Chris Wolfe (6.0 IP, 8 ER) was stuck with the loss in game one, while Kevin Duffy (5.0, 1 ER, 6 H, 2 SO) earned the win in the capper for the split.

Inside the Box Score

• After being outhit 14-3 in the opener, the Knights' offense rebounded for a 13-8 hit advantage in game two.
• Mount Saint Mary earned the split despite being outscored 14-7.
• MSMC committed seven errors in the field that allowed four unearned runs to cross home. Ranked second in the league in fielding percentage, the Bears were almost perfect, committing just one error on the day.

The Bear Facts

• With the three-hit day, Brian Luebcke set Bears single-season records for most hits (58), total bases (102), multi-hit games (20) and at bats (150) and ties the single-season record for doubles (19) and multi-RBI games (13).
• The victory also clinches the fourth straight 20-win season for the Bears and fifth straight winning campaign.
• The Bears collect their first win over Mount Saint Mary in the all-time series with the teams meeting for the first time since 2013. The Knights lead the series 5-1.
• SJC Brooklyn clinched their first Skyline Championship berth with their opening game victory coupled with a Purchase College loss to SJC Long Island in game one of their twinbill.  

Next Up for St. Joseph's - Skyline Championship Bound

Having clinched their first Skyline Championship appearance as the No. 6 seed, the Bears will head to Throggs Neck, N.Y. to face No. 3 Maritime College on Wednesday, May 4 for a first round, single elimination game. Start time to be announced. When the teams met in the regular season at Maritime, the squads split the doubleheader with the Bears taking game one, 8-7, before the Privateers salvaged the split, 5-4, in the nightcap.

The winner will advance to meet No. 2 Old Westbury in the double-elimination semifinal/final rounds at Farmingdale State from May 6-8.

Skyline Championship Seeding
No. 1 - Farmingdale State
No. 2 - Old Westbury
No. 3 - Maritime
No. 4 - SJC Long Island
No. 5 - Mount Saint Mary
No. 6 - SJC Brooklyn