Diaz Joins 100-Hit Club as Baseball Falls to Purchase

WEST HARRISON, NY – Senior Kevin Diaz (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) became the third Bear in program history to reach the 100 hit milestone as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team dropped both ends of a Sunday twinbill to Purchase College, 3-1 and 7-3, at Silver Lake Park.

Entering the afternoon one hit shy of the mark, Diaz wasted no time belting a two-out double in the first inning of game one to join the exclusive club.  The senior outfielder also became the fastest to reach the milestone accomplishing it in 70 games.

Purchase plated a run in the bottom half of the frame when Mark Donohue hit a two-out double that scored Colin Morris who walked earlier in the inning and stole second to move into scoring position.

The Bears leveled the game at 1-1 in the next half inning as Steven Ellis (Broad Channel, NY/St. Francis Prep) and Vinny Rossi (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) led off the top of the second with back-to-back singles. After a ground out moved the runners into scoring position, a Rob Mongiori (Jackson Heights, NY/Monsignor McClancy) groundout brought Ellis home.

The Panthers scored the eventual game winner in the fourth when Donahue, who finished 5-for-6 for the afternoon, led off with a single and later scored on a two-out RBI single from Jay Ruiz.  That would be all Panther starter Chris Carboni would need as he retired the final 11 Bears for the complete game victory.

Purchase added another run in the sixth and threatened to add more, but the Bears defense held strong with Joe Mendez (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) throwing out Donohue at home plate attempting to tag up on a foul fly to right to end the inning.

Donny Pagano (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) went the distance for St. Joseph's and took the loss on the hill, allowing eight hits, striking out five and walking one in six innings of work.

The Bears took an early lead in game two when Mendez knocked a one-out single that delivered Thomas McKenna (Bellerose, NY/St. Francis Prep) who led the game off with a single.  Purchase jumped ahead with two runs in the home half of the first, both coming unearned after a Bears miscue.

St. Joseph's knotted the game in the top of the second on a Danny Zaretsky (Brooklyn, NY/Lincoln) double that brought home Rossi who led the frame off with a single.  Purchase would take the lead back for good in the bottom half, taking advantage of another Bears error that extended the inning and Michael Sarni capitalized with a two-out RBI double.

Panthers starter Miller Lulow then settled in and held the Bears to only two hits over the third fourth and fifth innings while his offense added a solo run in the third and plated three runs in the fifth to take a 7-2 lead.

In the top of the sixth, Diaz belted his 101st career hit with a solo homer to lead off the inning, but the Bears couldn't muster any more runs off Lulow.  Lulow went the distance for Purchase (9-8) and gave up eight hits and stuck out five in the win.

Elvis Diaz (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) suffered the loss on the mound for the Bears, allowing eight hits and four earned runs with two strikeouts.

Rossi went 5-for-6 for the twinbill, finishing 3-for-3 in the nightcap with a run scored. McKenna added three hits.

St. Joseph's (6-10) returns to the diamond on Wednesday, March 21st hosting City College of New York for a single game at Padavan Preller Field in Bellerose, NY.  First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.