Baseball Takes Third Place in First Skyline Championship Falling to Top Seed Farmingdale

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — After suffering their first defeat in the double-elimination tournament this morning, No. 6-seeded St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) shrank an early five-run deficit to one run but couldn't knock off top-seeded Farmingdale State College falling 6-4, and collecting third place in the Skyline Conference Baseball Championship on Sunday afternoon.

The loss caps the Bears fourth straight 20-win season and fifth straight winning campaign at 22-20.

The Basics

• Final Score: Farmingdale State 6, St. Joseph's 4
• Records: Farmingdale State (20-15), St. Joseph's (22-20)
• Date: May 8, 2016
• Location: Farmingdale, N.Y.
• Field: FSC Baseball Stadium
• SJC Starters: Pasetti (LF), Rapp (SS), Luebcke (P), Condon (C), LoPrinzi (RF), Schwartz (3B), McGreevy (2B), Pallatto (1B), M. Camerada (CF)

How it Happened

• Farmingdale manufactured a solo run on one hit in the second to draw first blood. Brandon Snow led off with a single, advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and passed ball, and scoring the game's first run on a sacrifice squeeze.
• The No. 1 seed tacked on a pair of runs in the third with a double steal of second and home and capped off by a Brandon Ernest double to the corner.
• After being held to three hits over the first four frames, the Bears bats came alive in the fifth knocking four hits and posting three runs. Adam Schwartz led off the inning with a double and the Bears gained runners on the corners after a Thomas Pallatto single. Michael Camerada doubled to put up the first run, which subsequently knocked out the Farmingdale starting pitcher, and SJC added two more runs on a Connor Pasetti grounder and a Francis Rapp infield single.
• St. Joseph's cut their deficit in half in the sixth after John Condon and Nicholas LoPrinzi led off with back-to-back singles and both were sacrificed over to scoring position and Condon scoring on a wild pitch to make it 5-4.
• Farmingdale loaded the bases in the seventh and threatened to break the game open, but only came away with one run as the defense cut down two runners at the plate, escaping the jam catching Nick Attardi trying to steal home on a double steal attempt.
• Down 6-4 in their final at bat, the Bears managed to put the tying run on base with one out after a Pasetti walk and a Rapp single but David Otero Jr. took the hill for the final two outs and completed the save.

For the Bears

• Francis Rapp (2-for-4, RBI), Brian Luebcke (2-for-4), Nicholas LoPrinzi (2-for-4, 2B), Adam Schwartz (2-for-3, R, 2B) all recorded multi-hit games with two hits each.
• Michael Camerada (1-for-4, R, RBI, 2B) and Connor Pasetti (1-for-4, RBI) each drove in a run.
• Luebcke (4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 K) suffered just his second loss of the season taking the loss in the start.
• Mitch Brigando (4 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 K, 1 BB) tossed four strong innings in relief to keep the Bears within reach.

For the Rams

• Speedster Anthony Gigante (3-for-3, 2 R, 3 SB) paced the hosts at the plate and put the pressure on the Bears defense all game.
• Brandon Snow (2-for-4, R) and Nick Attardi (2-for-4, R) both knocked multiple hits.
• Ryan O'Connor (1.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H) gets the victory facing six batters in relief while David Otero Jr. (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER) notched his first save of the season.

Inside the Box Score

• The Bears outhit the Rams 12-10 with nine hits coming the final five innings.
• The Rams made the most of their 10 hits stranding just two runners while SJC left nine on base.

The Bear Facts

• Over the tournament, Nicholas LoPrinzi batted a team-leading .625 (10-for-16), recording multi-hit games in all four games of the tournament and one of two Bears to hit successfully in each game along with Luebcke. He also collected three RBI, two runs scored, a home run and a double.
• The senior class of Brian Luebcke, Rosario DiLorenzo and Sean O'Melia graduates as the winningest in program history with 95 wins over their four-year careers.
• Brian Luebcke finishes his career on the mound having compiled the lowest ERA all-time (3.06). He also set single-season records in hits (65), multi-hit games (23), total bases (110), at bats (167), doubles (20), sacrifice flies (7), innings pitched (76.0), games played (42, tie), games started (42, tie), games started pitching (11, tie), most strikeouts (61, tie).
• Rosario DiLorenzo finishes his career record holder for victories (16, tie) and career starts (34, tie) and is second all-time in innings pitched (196.2).
• Sean O'Melia caps his career with the second lowest ERA (3.57) behind Luebcke.
• The 22 wins are the third most in team history and the fourth straight season with 20-or-more victories.