Baseball Splits With Wesley to Wrap Up Road Trip

DOVER, Del. — Senior Nicholas LoPrinzi (Howard Beach, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) had a 3-for-4 effort and knocked in the game-winning run to lead the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team to a 5-4 victory in their doubleheader opener with Wesley on Sunday morning.

The Bears came within one out of sweeping the twinbill as Jim Kennedy's (Stroudsburg, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) two-run blast in the top of the seventh gave SJC a one-run lead, but the Wolverines knocked three hits with two outs in their final at bat to walk away with the split in the rubber game.

Game Info

• Final Score: St. Joseph's def. Wesley, 5-4; Wesley def. St. Joseph's, 4-3
• Location: Dover, Del.
• Field: Bob Reed Field
• Records: Wesley (6-2), St. Joseph's (1-2)

Game 1: St. Joseph's 5, Wesley 4

• SJC Starters: Linitz (CF) Rehn (2B) LoPrinzi (C) Condon (DH) Rapp (SS) Pallatto (1B) Schwartz (3B) DeFillippo (RF) Camerada (LF) Pasetti (P)
• A high-scoring first inning saw the Bears put up four runs but countered by three from hosts. John Condon opened the scoring for the Bears with a one-out single that scored Kevin Linitz and two Wesley miscues—an error and wild pitch--helped push another run across. Thomas Pallatto grounded out to score Condon and Adam Schwartz knocked a two-out double to cap off the frame.
• A leadoff homerun by Will Barton highlighted a three-run, three-hit bottom of the first for Wesley.
• The Bears bumped their lead to 5-3 in the top of the second on a Nicholas LoPrinzi two-out single scoring Linitz for the second time after he knocked a single two batters earlier and stole second.
• The Wolverines cut the deficit in half in the third on a two-out single by William Foster but that would be the only further damage against Bears starter Connor Pasetti who went the distance for the victory. Pasetti scattered just three walks over the final four no-hit innings, working perfect frames in the fifth and sixth.
• LoPrinzi finished 3-for-4 in the game, including the game-winning RBI. Linitz, Condon, Schwartz and Anthony DeFillippo accounted for the remainder of SJC's seven hits.

Game 2: Wesley 4, St. Joseph's 3

• SJC Starters: Linitz (CF) DeFillippo (LF) LoPrinzi (DH) Condon (C) Kennedy (1B) Rapp (SS) Schwartz (3B) DeLuca (RF) Trudden (2B) Amatuzzi (P)
• Wesley put up a solo run in the second on a two-out single by Mike Piccirillo to take an early lead.
• After singles from DeFilippo and LoPrinzi started the top of the fourth, a sacrifice bunt moved them over to second and third and DeFilippo scored on a wild pitch to knot the game at 1-1.
• Wesley used another timely hit in the fifth with Cody Dmiterchik's two-out double putting the hosts back on top, 2-1.
• Condon led off the top of the seventh with a single and Jim Kennedy launched the first SJC home run of the season with a two-run shot that gave their first lead, 4-3.
• Bears starter Anthony Amatuzzi (L, 0-1, 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 1 K) induced two fly outs to start off bottom of the seventh before the Wolverines knocked two singles to gain runners on first and second, prompting a call to the bullpen, but Chris Seibert welcomed the relief with a shot to the wall for a double that clinched the series for the hosts.

Inside the Box Score

• LoPrinzi led all Bears with four hits. Linitz, DeFilippo, Condon hit successfully in both ends of the twinbill.
• Wesley scored all four runs in game two with two-outs.
• All three games in the series were decided by one run. Both Wesley wins came in a walk-off with two outs.

Next Up for St. Joseph's

The Bears return home and will face the College of Staten Island on Saturday, March 11th in a road doubleheader starting at noon in Staten Island.