Bears Belt Out 16 Hits in 13-2 Triumph Over UMPI

BELLEROSE, NY – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team captured a convincing 13-2 victory over fellow Association of Division III Independents and United States Collegiate Athletic Association foes University of Maine at Presque Isle on Friday afternoon at Padavan-Preller Field.

The Bears improve to 8-12 and 3-1 at home at Padavan-Preller Field while UMPI falls to 2-16. 

Junior Paul Piccirillo (Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) set a new Bears single season record for wins in a season, improving to 5-0 on the mound, going eight innings and scattering five hits and allowing two runs.  The reigning USCAA Pitcher of the Week and AD3I Player of the Week struck out five and walked seven.

The Bears belted out 16 hits, matching their season high against CCNY.  All nine starters contributed at least one hit or one RBI to the victory.  Freshman Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, NY/St. Francis Prep) led the way with a 4-for-5 day, with three runs scored, two doubles and a stolen base.

Sophomore Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) went 3-for-4 collecting three RBI, two runs and a triple.  Freshman Chris Cutrone (Levittown, NY/Island Trees) accumulated three hits, two RBI, and a run. Freshman Vinny Rossi (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) rounded out the four Bears with a multi-hit day with a pair of hits and runs scored with a stolen base.

St. Joseph's posted a pair of runs in the first inning capitalizing on a dropped fly ball that would have ended the inning.  The Bears tacked on two more runs in the fourth, on a Cutrone two out, two-RBI single that scored Cundari and McKenna and would prove to be the difference.  The Bears scored again with two-outs when Cundari tripled to right in the fifth frame plating Steven Ellis (Broad Channel, NY/St. Francis Prep). 

UMPI would assemble their own two out rally in the seventh, with Carlos Villoria doing the damage with a two-RBI double to right center that cut the Bears lead to 5-2.  But St. Joseph's quickly responded getting the two runs back in the bottom half of the frame and breaking the game open with a six-run eighth inning highlighted by a Joe Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) two-RBI single with the bases loaded.

UMPI finished with six hits on the afternoon and were hindered by five errors. Jake Fillebrown (0-4) took the loss for the Owls going 7.1 innings allowing 12 hits and 10 runs (seven earned) and striking out eight.

Both teams are scheduled to return to Padavan-Preller Field tomorrow for a twinbill starting at noon.