Mount Saint Mary Rallies To Take Two From Baseball

Mount Saint Mary Rallies To Take Two From Baseball

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team (9-5-1, 2-2 Skyline) was one out from splitting their Skyline Conference doubleheader with Mount Saint Mary College (8-5, 2-2 Skyline), but the Knights rallied with four in the seventh to sweep both ends, 13-1 and 4-1, on Tuesday evening at the SJC Outdoor Field Complex.

 

Game One: Mount Saint Mary 13, St. Joseph's 1 (7 inn)

The Knights got on the board in the first plating a pair of runs and tacked on four in the second and three in the third, knocking 10 hits over the first three innings to amass a 9-0 advantage.

The Bears managed to get runners on second and third in the second inning off a William DeLuca (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) single and a Knights' miscue but came away empty-handed. SJC struggled to get the bats going to cut into the deficit, held to five hits over the first six frames and no more than one hit an inning.

Back-to-back singles by Nicholas Hernandez (Parkland, Fla./St. John Paul II Academy) and J.J. McLaughlin (Elmont, N.Y./Sewanhaka) to open the seventh helped set up the Bears lone run to spoil the shutout—Hernandez coming home on a Knights miscue.

 

Game Two: Mount Saint Mary 4, St. Joseph's 1

A pitchers duel ensued in the nightcap as starting hurlers Andrew Watters (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) and John Santana held opposing hitters to just one hit through three. But the Bears made the most of their first hit in the third when Michael Gonzalez (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) singled, stole second and scored on a Knights miscue when a fly ball was dropped with two outs.

The Bears threatened in the fifth to add an insurance run when Gonzalez singled stole second again and tried to score from second on a Michael Ryan (Franklin Square, N.Y./Holy Trinity) single but was cut down at home plate.

Watters held Mount Saint Mary to two hits through six innings to preserve the 1-0 lead. But the Knights broke through in the seventh knocking back-to-back singles to start the frame. A force out at third and a sliding catch in center by Chris Zinser (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) to save a run brought the Bears an out away from victory. Mount Saint Mary drew a full-count walk to load the bases and brought the top of the lineup to the plate and Jack Goodwin cleared the bases with a double down the line that put the Knights on top for good.

Gonzalez singled again to lead off the bottom of the inning, but any hopes of a Bears rally ended with a strikeout and a game-ending double play.

 

For the Bears

  • Michael Gonzalez went 3-for-3 in the nightcap, scoring a run.
  • Andrew Watters (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) suffered his first loss of the season falling to 3-1. Going the distance, he allowed four runs on six hits, striking out two and walking four.
  • William DeLuca hit successfully in both games, finishing the series 3-for-5 with a walk.
  • Nicholas Hernandez knocked a hit in his lone at bat in game one, and scored once.
  • C.J. Bunnicelli (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) tossed a scoreless inning in relief in game one, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Next Up for the Bears

Another Skyline Conference home doubleheader, welcoming Maritime College to Calvert Vaux Park on Saturday (Mar. 30). Game one first pitch is set for 12 p.m. with live stats and video streaming on SJCBears.com.