Baseball Drops Two on the Road to Purchase

PURCHASE, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team (10-15-1, 3-11 Skyline) continued their 2019 campaign with a Skyline conference doubleheader at Purchase College (14-11, 5-5) on Saturday, losing 5-1 and 9-2 decisions as their recent skid reached eight games.

Game 1: Purchase 5, St. Joseph's 1

Two singles and an error gave the Panthers the first run of the game in the bottom of the second and Matthew Mulligan followed with a run-scoring groundout for a 2-0 PC lead after two. A pair of SJC errors and two walks led to a two-run third for Purchase, without a hit in the frame, as they took a 4-0 advantage into the fourth.

The middle innings were scoreless and the Panthers tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a wild pitch, while the Bears got on the board in the eighth on an RBI single from Dominick Caputo (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai), but the comeback bid fell short and they suffered their 10th league loss of the year.

Game 2: Purchase 9, St. Joseph's 2

A leadoff double was followed by a walk and another two-bagger as Purchase opened the scoring with three runs on three hits in the bottom of the first.

Junior Kevin Reyes (Bronx, N.Y./AECI) doubled home Adam Schwartz (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) in the Bears' half of the third and Joseph Langan (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) added an RBI single as they cut the deficit to one (3-2) after two and a half.

The Panthers' 2018 All-Skyline catcher Jackson Hill answered in the bottom of inning three with a bases-clearing single, and he was singled home by the next batter, leading Purchase to four runs in the frame to establish a 7-3 edge that held for the remainder of the game as the Bears were limited to three hits over the final four innings.

For the Bears

• Reyes recorded a hit and scored a run in each outing while Anthony Palermo (Patchogue, N.Y./Sachem North) also hit safely in both games.
• Junior righty Andrew Watters (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) tossed a complete game in the first contest allowing just three earned runs (five total) on seven hits with five walks and four strikeouts.
• Langan was 2-for-2 in game two and William DeLuca (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks in the same game.
• Rookie hurler Zach Stevens (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) pitched a scoreless inning of relief in the nightcap.

Next Up for the Bears
A Skyline battle on the road at sibling rival SJC Long Island on Sunday (Apr. 14) in a twin-bill starting at noon while links to live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com.