Bears Hold Off Polytechnic For Second Win At Keyspan Park

BROOKLYN, NY – Freshman Anthony Langone (Staten Island, NY/Moore Catholic), Jon Mendez (Brooklyn, NY/Xavarian), and Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) combined for nine hits and six RBI and Chris Davidson(San Carlos, CA/Canada College) picked up his second win of the season on the mound in relief as the St. Joseph's College baseball team beat Polytechnic Institute, 6-3, on Monday for their second straight win at Keyspan Park.

Langone went 3-for-5 with a run, stolen base and three RBI.  Mendez went 3-for-5 with a run, a team-leading eighth double, and 2 RBI.  Boccia also went 3-for-5 with an RBI.  Davidson extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the third, finishing 1-for-4.  Jason Iannozzi (Brooklyn, NY/Kingsborough CC) was the only other Bear with a multi-hit game going 2-for-2.

Danny Contant(Staten Island, NY/Xavarian) made his fourth start on the mound for the Bears and pitched 4.0 innings in the no-decision.  He struck out four and allowed five hits with no earned runs before being replaced by Davidson in the fifth after facing three batters.  Davidson (2-2) closed out the game pitching 5.0 innings surrendering one run on five hits and striking out three.

Playing as the visiting team, the Bears took lead in the opening frame plating the first two batters with a two-RBI double from Mendez.  They added another run in the second with a leadoff hit by Langone and a stolen base to move into scoring position where Boccia delivered him with a single to left.

St. Joseph's solidified their lead in the third, extending it to 5-0, with Mendez and Davidson leading off the inning with singles and Keith Juricich(San Mateo, CA/Canada College) getting hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Langone singled to left for his second hit of the game to score Mendez and Davidson.

A defensive falter in the bottom half of the frame gave the Fighting Blue Jays their first run with the Bears picking up two errors on a stolen base attempt allowing a runner to score from first.

Although St. Joseph's appeared to be in control of the game, they could not pull away from Polytechnic. Starting Blue Jay pitcher Jon Paul Anatra allowed only one additional run in the final six innings and completed the game on the mound as Polytechnic appeared to be playing with a short bench.

The Bears held several opportunities to open up the game, however came up empty handed after loading the bases in the fifth and eighth innings.  Polytechnic added solo runs in the fifth and sixth innings to remain within striking distance, but Davidson held the Blue Jays in the final three innings for the 6-3 win.

St. Joseph's (9-13) will return again to Keyspan Park on Thursday, April 16 for a single game against Old Westbury.  First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.  As part of the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" event co-sponsored by the Campus Activities Board and the Office of Athletics, transportation will be provided for any SJC student that wishes to attend the game.  All interested in taking the bus must sign up in the Student Life Suite by Wednesday at 2 p.m.