Baseball Edged Out By Stevens Tech 6-4

(HOBOKEN, NJ)  St. Joseph's College men's baseball held an early 4-1 lead but lost to Stevens Institute of Technology by a 6-4 margin on Wednesday afternoon in nine innings.  St. Joseph's falls to 2-11 and Stevens improves to 8-7.

A.J. Passione (Brooklyn, NY/Xavarian) led the Bears going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.  Passione also made five putouts in center field and had an assist.  Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xavarian), Chris Davidson (San Carlos, CA/Canada College) and John Porcelli (Brooklyn, NY/Xavarian) all singled and drove in one run.  Porcelli, Keith Juricich (San Mateo, CA/Canada College) and Jacob Ramos (Hasbrouck Heights, NJ/Hasbrouck) also scored for the Bears.

Danny Contant (Staten Island, NY/Xavarian) made his second start on the mound pitching 4.0 innings, striking out five and giving up two earned runs in the no-decision.  Jon Cubero (Brooklyn, NY/Xavarian) received the loss in relief, giving up four runs in 1.2 innings.

Stevens Tech scored first in the first, Contant getting off to a slow start walking four batters.  Contant recovered, escaping a bases loaded jam with a foul popup to Davidson.  Contant settled down afterwards, retiring the side in order in the second and third innings, striking out three.

The Bears tied the game in the second with Juricich walking and advancing to second on a wild pitch.  Porcelli drove in Juricich with a single.  St. Joseph's took the lead in the third with back to back singles from Ramos and Passione.  Both later scored on RBI singles from Mendez and Davidson to take a 3-1 lead.

St. Joseph's added another run in the fourth with Porcelli drawing a leadoff walk.  He advanced to scoring position on a single by Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) and Passione drove him in with a two-out single to right center.

Stevens Tech loaded the bases in their half of the fourth, drawing two walks and a hit batsmen.  The Ducks only managed to score one run on the inning,  the damage minimized by Passione throwing out a runner at the plate for the second out of the inning and Contant striking out the next batter to escape another jam.

Cubero relieved Contant with a 4-2 lead in the fifth.  Cubero walked the leadoff batter who stole second and scored on a two-out single through the right side to cut the lead to one.  The Ducks took the lead in the sixth loading the bases with their first three batters.  Coach John Torres handed the ball to Kevin Hernandez(Queens, NY/Newtown HS) to get out of the inning.  Hernandez got two consecutive outs, but gave up a sacrifice fly to tie the game.  Ken Meerendonk, the Ducks number three hitter then delivered a two out, two-RBI single that would prove to be the difference.

The Stevens Tech bullpen kept the Bears bats quiet, closing out the game.  The Ducks used three relievers who combined for five hitless innings.  St. Joe's only managed two base runners on a passed ball on a strikeout and a walk.

St. Joseph's returns to the diamond on Saturday for a twin bill on the road against Purchase College.  First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.