DAVENPORT, Fla. — St. Joseph's University, New York (Brooklyn) baseball made its first appearance at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational since 2019 on Monday afternoon. The Bears dropped their opener, 4-5, to the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, while their second scheduled game against the University of Wisconsin–Stout was canceled due to inclement weather.
The Bears returned to action Tuesday morning, falling 2-9 to Principia College.
Wisconsin-Stevens Point
The Bears struck first with an RBI double from William King (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) in the opening inning. The Pointers responded in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a two-out triple, and took a 3–1 lead.
Trailing 4–1 in the seventh, the Bears rallied to cut the deficit to 4–3. Rookie Justin Alas (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) drove in Christopher Stegmuller (Baldwin, N.Y.), and William King followed with his second RBI of the game. A fielding error by Stevens Point in the eighth allowed St. Joseph's to even the score at 4–4.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Pointers' leadoff batter drew a walk and later scored on a single down the left-field line, securing a 5–4 victory.
King, Alas, and Vincent Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y.) provided the Bears' hits, while Justin Haluck (Plainedge, N.Y.) and Jayden Loccisano (Massapequa, N.Y.) joined Alas and Stegmuller among the team's run scorers.
Nicholas Mirabella (Whitestone, N.Y.) tossed four innings in the no-decision. Kris Vinski (Bridgehampton, N.Y.) was tabbed with the loss.
Wisconsin-Stout
Rookie Camden Wallace (Riverhead, N.Y.) was due to take the hill against the Blue Devils before the skies opened up, forcing the cancellation of the second game of the day.
Principia
The Panthers jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning, but the Bears—serving as the home team—answered with a run of their own, as Daniel Banach (Valley Stream, N.Y.) drove in Haluck with a double to cut the deficit in half.
Starting pitcher Antonio Moran (Brooklyn, N.Y.) worked three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. Principia then broke the game open in the fifth, using a pair of multi-RBI extra-base hits to turn a one-run edge into a 7–1 lead. It grew to 9-1 with runs in the sixth and seventh innings.
King accounted for the Bears' second run in the eighth inning, but the deficit proved too large to overcome as the Panthers secured a 9–2 victory.
Seven different Bears recorded hits while Moran struck out seven Panthers over five innings in the defeat.
The Bears conclude their participation at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Wednesday, March 18 against the University of Maine-Farmington. First pitch is scheduled for 12:30 pm.
