Bears Baseball Drops 11-4 Decision to NJCU

JERSEY CITY, NJ – Hitting the road after their impressive shutout victory over CCNY yesterday, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team couldn't carry the momentum falling to New Jersey City University, 11-4, on Thursday afternoon at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.

The Bears fall to 7-11 while the Gothic Knights improve to 6-5.  NJCU also improves to 4-0 in the all-time series.

NJCU knocked 16 hits in the nine-inning affair, seven coming in the first two innings helping the Gothic Knights jump out to a 6-1 lead.  After plating two runs in the first, NJCU took advantage of a Bears fielding error that allowed the heart of the lineup to come to the plate.  Andrew Rivera, Michael Martucci, and Alex Weinstein did the damage hitting three straight two-out RBI singles that brought in four unearned runs and the eventual game winner.

St. Joseph's posted their first run in the second after Joe Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) continued his hot bat, leading off with a double.  Mendez later advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a balk.  Another leadoff double by Rob Mongiori (Jackson Heights, NY/Monsignor McClancy) in the third helped produce another run, cutting the NJCU lead to 6-2. Mongiori advanced on a groundout and scored on an error.

The Bears chipped away at the Gothic Knights advantage in the fifth, plating a pair of runs to cut the deficit in half, to 6-4.  After Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) and Mongiori drew leadoff walks, Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) delivered Cundari with a single to center and Chris Cutrone (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) later brought Mongiori with a sacrifice fly.

But the NJCU bullpen would hold the St. Joseph's scoreless over the final four innings to preserve the win, despite the Bears belting out five hits, while the Gothic Knights tacked on a solo run in the fifth, three in the seventh and another solo run in the eighth.

The Bears rapped eight hits on the afternoon, led by Mongiori who finished the day 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks.  Boccia also finished with a pair of hits and a RBI. Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) extended his hitting streak to 10 games, knocking a single through the left side in the eighth inning. Cutrone finished the game 0-for-3, snapping his team-best 11-game hitting streak.

Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) took the loss on the mound and went 6 2/3 innings allowing 10 runs (five earned), striking out two and walking one.  Alvin Carrasco earned the victory for the Knights going five innings scattering three hits, allowing four runs (three earned) with three strikeouts.

St. Joseph's has a full week off before returning to the diamond against Merchant Marine Academy on Thursday, March 29, 2012 for a road matinee starting at 4 p.m.