Baseball Threatens to Salvage Split With Plattsburgh State in Home Opener

KINGS POINT, NY – Anthony Hernandez (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) and Chris Leary (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) combined to hit 6-for-11 as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team hosted Plattsburgh State (2-2) for their 2022 home opener at Bartoszek Field on Sunday afternoon. After dropping a 14-2 decision in the opener, the Bears (0-4) couldn't salvage the split in a back-and-forth battle in the nightcap, falling 6-5.

How It Happened (Game 1)

Early scoring by the Cardinals with three in the first and one in the second saw them take an early four-run lead. 

Three consecutive hits in the 2nd inning led to the Bears cutting the deficit in half. After Louis Lombardi (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), Thomas Airey (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage), Lucas Collet (Toulouse, France/Lyc'ee Bellevue) all knocked one-out singles, Nick Tapio (Sacramento, Calif./Christian Brothers) drew a bases-loaded walk and Abner Victor (San Pedro De Macorís, Dominican Republic/John Adams) brought another home with a sacrifice fly but that would be all the Bears scoring in the opener.

The Cardinals pulled away scoring multiple runs in the three in the final four frames and finishing with 18 hits. 

Hernandez led the Bears at the dish finishing 2-for-3 with a triple.

How It Happened (Game 2)

The Cardinals would once again strike early, notching two runs in the top of the first inning. However, the Bears would get one back in the bottom half. After being hit by a pitch and then moving from first to third on a Leary base hit, Hernandez would score on a double play. 

After a scoreless 2nd inning, Hernandez would score again in the third, this time legging out an infield single, stealing second and scoring on a Leary single. Lombardi would nab his second RBI of the season, bringing Leary home to give the Bears a 3-2 lead. 

The Cardinals would tie it up in the fourth with triples by Kyle Cremin and Kaden Kowalowoski triple, but the Bears would answer back in the home half with back-to-back triples of their own by Michael Gardener (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and Justin Biordi (Howard Beach, N.Y./Scholars' Academy) and Biordi scoring on a Hernandez sac fly for a 5-3 lead.

The visitors tied the game in the fifth with pair and moved ahead with one in the sixth and threatened for more, but freshman Justin Conaty (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) would come into the game in a jam with runners at the corners and tossed and pitch two full hitless innings to keep the Bears within reach. 

SJC saw the tying run thrown out at the plate in the sixth and put the tying run on the bases on in the seventh, but came up empty-handed.

Leary and Gardener both led the Bears batting 2-for-3 with a run scored. Gardener logged his first collegiate multi-hit game. 

The Bear Facts 

• Lombardi struck out six in 4.1 innings, just one shy of his career-high. 
• Three different Bears (Airey, Collet, Hernandez) recorded a stolen base over the span of the two games.
• Collet, Lombardi, and Hernandez all extended their hit streaks to four games.

Next Up

The Bears face John Jay College next Saturday, March 12 in a non-conference doubleheader at Maimonides Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, starting at 12 p.m. Live stats will be available at SJCBears.com/live.