Baseball Begins 2023 Campaign with Defeats to Rutgers-Newark

NEWARK, N.J. — The St. Joseph's University, N.Y. (Brooklyn) baseball team began their 2023 season with a non-conference doubleheader against Rutgers University-Newark on Saturday afternoon, falling 5-0 in the first game and 10-5 in the second.

How it Happened: Game 1

The Scarlet Raiders (5-1) plated a run on a pair of hits in the opening inning. Bears' (0-2) starting pitcher Mike Santoriello (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) managed to keep Rutgers-Newark off the board over the next four innings, striking out five and allowing just four hits in the process. A pair of triples led the home half of the sixth inning, eventually leading to four runs crossing the plate and a 5-0 Scarlet Raider win.

Game 2

The hosts began the second game with a six-run outburst in the first inning. The first Bear run scored in the third inning when a Louis Lombardi (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) scored Chris Leary (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial), 6-1. The Scarlet Raider lead grew to 10-1 at the end of the sixth stanza.

The Bears' bats sparked a comeback bid in the eighth. Following a leadoff walk, Matt Arcati (Brooklyn, N.Y./Williamsburg Prep) brought in SJBK's second run of the contest before scoring himself on Lucas Collet's (Toulouse, France/Lyc'ee Bellevue) single to make it a 10-3 game. Two batters later, Nicholas Mirabella (Whitestone, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) doubled to left-center field to send Collet and Omar Salcedo (New York, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) home. However, the Bears weren't able to cut the Scarlet Raider lead further, falling 10-5.

For the Bears 

• Sean Schneebury (Columbia, Tenn./Del Oro) was the only Bear with two hits in game one as he and Carmine Carbone (Middle Village, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) logged doubles.

• Carbone struck out four batters in two innings of relief in game two.

• Seven different Bears registered a base knock with Lombardi and Mirabella going for extra bases.

• Marcus Rivera (Hayward, Calif./Moreau Catholic) and Justin Biordi (Howard Beach, N.Y./Scholars' Academy) each stole bases with the latter swiping a pair of bags in the nightcap.

• Santoriello was dealt the game-one defeat while Lombardi took the loss on the bump in game two.

Up Next

The Bears will travel to South Carolina to take part in the Cal Ripken Experience. They open their participation in Myrtle Beach with a doubleheader against New Hampshire-based school Plymouth State University on Saturday, March 11. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.