READING, PA. — The St. Joseph's University, N.Y. (Brooklyn) baseball team made their return to the win column, earning a 13-9 triumph over Penn State University-Berks on Wednesday afternoon. Senior catcher Nick Tapio (Sacramento, Calif./Christian Brothers) was instrumental at the plate, batting 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles and five RBI while newcomers Brian Sanchez (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) and Anthony Faggiano (Hicksville, N.Y./Bethpage) each had a pair of hits, as many runs scored, and an RBI.
How it Happened
A pair of RBI singles from Faggiano and Sanchez gave the Bears a 2-0 advantage in the second inning before increasing to 5-0 later in the frame. The Nittany Lions scored runs in each of the next three innings to trim their deficit to two.
In the fifth with Carmine Carbone (Middle Village, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy)Â in scoring position, Tapio's double to center field sent the sophomore home. Classmate Miguel Toribio (Brooklyn, N.Y./Williamsburg Prep) scored on Michael Gardener's (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) single; giving SJBK a 7-3 lead.
In the sixth, Tapio again delivered a hit for extra bases, this time bringing in two runs. The navy and gray expanded their lead with four additional runs in the seventh, courtesy of base hits from Carbone and Sean Schneeberg (Sacramento, Calif./Del Oro), as well as a two-RBI single from Tapio, bringing his total RBI count to five in the at-bat.
Highlighted by Colin Templin's grand slam in the eighth and Nick Bergeman's solo shot in the ninth, the hosts plated six runs in the final two innings but their efforts came up short as the Bears held on for the 13-9 win.
For the Bears
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Tapio matches a single-game career-high with five RBI, doing so in 2021 against SUNY Maritime and in 2022 against Yeshiva.
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Schneeberg sent a pair of runs home and scored one.
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Toribio scored three runs.
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Mike Dedella (Pemberton, N.J./Pemberton Township) earned his first win on the bump (1-1), tossing 2.1 innings.
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Dylan Cantwell (Island Park, N.Y./Long Beach) had three strikeouts in 3.2 innings of relief.
Up Next
The Bears are in New Jersey this Saturday, March 16 as they take on Rutgers University-Newark in a doubleheader beginning at 11 am.
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