Briarcliffe Uses Big Inning to Defeat Bears

HOLBROOK, NY – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team led 5-4 after four innings, but Briarcliffe College scored 13 runs in the fifth inning to take a 17-5 victory over the Bears on Sunday afternoon in a USCAA matchup at the PAL Sports Complex.

In the latest USCAA Coaches' Poll released at the beginning of the week, Briarcliffe (13-13) was ranked number 16 and St. Joseph's (14-17) sat one spot behind at number 17.

The Bears were led at the plate by senior Joseph Boccia (Westwood, NJ/Westwood) and junior Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) each collecting a pair of hits on the afternoon, Boccia also picking up a RBI, run scored and a double.  Sophomore Mike Cundari (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single in the sixth. 

Briarcliffe knocked 20 hits in the contest, the most allowed in a game this season, with seven starters recording multi-hit games led by Richard Ireland who went 4-for-6 with five RBI, three runs, a home run and a double.

The Bulldogs knocked five hits in the first and jumped ahead 2-0 on RBI singles from Anthony Mele and Anthony Puma before the Bears escaped a bases loaded jam with an inning ending 5-2-3 double play.

St. Joseph's cut the deficit in half with a solo run in the second on a Boccia single that scored Vinny Rossi (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross). The Bears tied the game in the third with Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, NY/St. Francis Prep) leading off with a single and later scoring on a Bulldog miscue.

St. Joseph's took their first lead of the game, 5-2, plating three runs in the top of the fourth. Chris Cutrone (Levittown, NY/Island Trees HS) started the rally with one-out double and scored the next play on a single from Jeff Bonowicz (Whitestone, NY/Holy Cross) down the right field line.  Boccia belted a double down the opposite line to put runners at second and third and capping three straight hits. Bonowicz would score on a McKenna grounder and Boccia would later come home on a wild pitch.

The Bulldogs would get two back in the home half of the inning on a David Hoskin two-run single.

The fifth inning would seal the Bears fate as they committed five errors and allowed 13 runs, the most scored by an opponent in a single inning in Bears history.  Briarcliffe knocked eight hits in the frame, highlighted by Ireland who had a two RBI double and later knocked a three-run home run in the inning. Matt Brigando (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) would take the loss on the mound coming in relief to start the frame going one-third of an inning allowing five hits, but only three of his nine runs coming earned to him.

Chris Brezinski earned the win for Briarcliffe, tossing five innings, and allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits, striking out seven and walking four.  The Bulldogs bullpen silenced the St. Joseph's bats to close out the win, using four relievers to hold the Bears to only one hit and scoreless over the final four innings.

St. Joseph's will look to rebound on Wednesday, May 2nd facing Drew University on the road in a rubber game starting at 4 p.m.  When the squads last met in Madison, NJ, the Bears took a 23-5 victory, while the Rangers captured a 14-10 win at MCU Park in the first meeting.