THROGGS NECK, N.Y. — Following a 3-0 game one loss, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) baseball team battled back to split their Saturday series against Maritime College winning 4-2 in game two behind a three-hit effort from Abner Victor (San Pedro De Macorís, Dominican Republic/John Adams) and seven strong innings from Andrew Monda (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield). The win snapped a seven-game skid and was the first Skyline Conference win of the early league season. 

Game 1: Maritime 3, St. Joseph's 0

The Bears' bats were quiet for their first match-up against the Privateer pitching, who held SJC to two hits in the shutout loss. The Privateers picked up two early runs in the first and added another run in the third. The navy and gray to get something going in the top of the fifth after Zach Schnabel (Bethpage, N.Y./Bethpage) singled to the right side, which advanced Victor — who previously walked— to second base which was the first Bear in scoring position through the entire game, but came up empty-handed.

Lucas Collet (Toulouse, France/Lyc'ee Bellevue) picked up the only other hit for SJC and Michael Santoriello (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) was stuck with the loss working 5.1 innings with only one earned run and four strikeouts.

Game 2: St. Joseph's 4, Maritime 2

Coming out with a vengeance, the Bears opened the second game with a Collet double in the right-center gap.  After Collet advanced to third on a grounder, Chris Leary (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) came up big and secured the first run for the Bears with a two-out single down the right-field line, to score Collet. 

Sophomore Monda was steady on the bump for the Bears, holding the Privateers scoreless through three frames before he coughed up two runs in the fourth and the Bears faced a 2-1 deficit.

SJC regained the lead with two runs in the top of the sixth, courtesy of three timely singles by Louis Lombardi (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), Mike Medina Jr. (Selden, N.Y./Newfield), and Victor and made the Privateers pay for a two-out error to take a 3-2 lead going into the seventh. 

After the blemish in the fourth, Monda worked three perfect innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh, to maintain the Bears' advantage. 

SJC solidified their lead with a solo homer by Anthony Hernandez (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) in the ninth, who took the ball deep over the right-center fence, his first collegiate home run padding the lead to 4-2.

In a high-pressure situation, Justin Contay (Brooklyn, N.Y./James Madison) took the bump in the eighth and picked up the final six outs for his first collegiate save, striking out three and scattering two hits. Monda leveled his record at 2-2 on the season, also striking out three and allowing six hits over seven strong.

Victor led the offense going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a double. Leary was the only other Bear with a multi-hit game finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Next Up

The Bears head to Kings Point, N.Y. for a Sunday afternoon doubleheader against USMMA. First pitch will start at 12 p.m. with game two starting at 2 p.m. Live stats will be available at SJCBears.com/live.