Monda's Strong Outing, Collet's Three RBI Propels Baseball to Split with Farmingdale State

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Sophomore Andrew Monda (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield) struck out a career-high nine batters in eight innings of work; the longest outing of his tenure. Junior Lucas Collet (Toulouse, France/Lyc'ee Bellevue) logged three RBI while rookie Michael Gardener (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) brought in a pair to see the St. Joseph's University Brooklyn baseball team earn a 7-3 triumph against Farmingdale State College in the second game of their Skyline doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.

Mike Santoriello (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) tossed a complete game and fanned four but it wasn't enough as the Bears (5-23, 3-11) were defeated by the Rams in game one (17-11, 9-5), 9-4.

Chris Leary (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) finished the day by batting 4-for-7 as he collected a pair of base knocks and scored a run in both ends of the twin bill.

How it Happened, Game 1

Farmingdale State struck first with an RBI single in the top of the first. Their lead grew to 3-0 after two and 6-0 after three before putting the Bears in a seven-run hole after the top of the fourth.

Gardener's triple to left field led off the home half of the fourth. He scored on Abner Victor's (San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic/John Adams) groundout to put the Bears on the board.

The visitors' seven-run advantage was restored in the fifth but it was short-lived as Anthony Hernandez (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) scored on a wild pitch in the bottom half of the frame, 8-2.

Down 9-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Hernandez's tripled down the left-field line to send Leary home before scoring on a sac fly from Kevin Reyes (Bronx, N.Y./AECI) to trim their deficit down to 9-4. St. Joseph's was unable to reduce the FSC advantage further, settling for the game-one loss.

Game 2

Monda got through the first three innings largely unscathed, allowing just one hit. Thomas Airey's (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) triple to left-center led off the third, scoring on a fielder's choice.

The Rams responded in the top of the fourth thanks to an RBI double but the navy and gray quickly answered back with Louis Lombardi's leadoff double and crossing the plate on Mike Medina Jr.'s (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) single later in the frame.

Lombardi was intentionally walked to load the bases in the fifth. Gardener, on the first pitch of the next at-bat, ripped a two-RBI single up the middle to see the Bears' advantage grow to 4-1.

St. Joseph's added two more runs in the sixth thanks to Hernandez's double followed by Collet hitting into a fielder's choice.

The guests plated their second run in the eighth on Vincent Napolitano's base hit. A Hernandez lead-off triple and Collet grounding into another fielder's choice brought home the centerfielder to give the Bears a 7-2 advantage.

Despite allowing a run in the top of the ninth, reliever Justin Conaty (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) was able to get the finl three outs of the contest to give the navy and gray their third conference win of the season.

For the Bears, Game 1

• Adding to his 2-for-3 line, Leary also stole a base.

• Hernandez and Gardener both tripled to go 1-for-3 in the contest and combined to score three of the Bears' four runs.

• Collet finished 1-for-4 while Reyes and Lombardi each went 1-for-3.

• Santoriello struck out four or more for the fourth time this season. He allowed 13 hits and nine runs, seven earned, as he drops to 1-6.

For the Bears, Game 2

• Monda's nine K's blew past his previous best of three in a game, which he achieved four times over two seasons. He improves to 3-3 on the campaign as he allowed two runs, both earned, and five hits.

• Leary and Hernandez each went 2-for-4 with the latter scoring a pair of runs while Leary crossed the plate once.

• Despite not registering a hit, Collet finished with a team-best three RBI and scored a run.

• Collet and Airey both stole bases in the contest.

Up Next 

The Bears will honor Lombardi and Airey in Senior Day ceremonies ahead of their Skyline twin bill with the SUNY College at Old Westbury on Sunday, April 24. First pitch from Farmingdale is scheduled at noon with live stats and video available on sjcbears.com/live