Patchogue, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Baseball team evened its record to 2-2 in Skyline Conference play after sweeping St. Joseph's-Brooklyn on Tuesday night. The Knights won game one in a 13-1 run rule and then scored four runs in the top of seventh to win the second game of the doubleheader 4-1.

Mount Saint Mary 13 – St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 1 (7 innings)
The Mount got the offense rolling early as they loaded the bases in the first inning after a single from John Santana (Warwick, N.Y.) and walks from Nick Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Michael Doxey (Highland, N.Y.). Steven Mirra (Wallingford, Conn.) then laced a single to right field to drive in a run and Tom Huvane (Eastchester, N.Y.) drove in Rizzo with a sacrifice fly for the second run of the inning.

The Knights added to the lead in the second when Ryan Lutinski (Easton, Conn.) led the inning off with a double. Following an Anthony Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) walk and a Jack Goodwin (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt, Santana tripled to the right center gap to blow the game open early.

N. Rizzo followed it up with a RBI single of his own to plate Santana and Mirra drove in his third run of the game with two outs in the second. N. Rizzo drove in two more runs in the top of the third on a single to center field and Doxey plated N. Rizzo on a double to right center to extend the lead to 9-0.

In the top of the fifth, A. Rizzo led the inning off with a single and Goodwin drew a walk. Santana then singled to left and both runners scored on an error by the left fielder. Santana later scored on a passed ball to give the Knights a 12-0 advantage.

Liam Merlin (Reading, Mass.) drove in the final run for the Mount on a RBI groundout in the top of the sixth. The Bears got on the board for its lone run in the bottom of the seventh as Nicholas Hernandez scored on a throwing error following a fielder's choice.

Sal Rizzo (Smithtown, N.Y.) threw a complete game for the Knights, allowing seven hits over seven innings and allowed one unearned run. He lowered his ERA to a team best 0.52. Daniel Egan took the loss for St. Joseph's-Brooklyn as he allowed six hits and six runs over one and two-thirds innings.

The Knights banged out 17 hits in the contest as N. Rizzo and Santana both had three hits and three runs batted in for the Knights. Mirra finished 2-for-4 with two RBI's and A. Rizzo was 2-for-3 with four runs scored.

Mount Saint Mary 4 – St. Joseph's-Brooklyn 1
The nightcap turned into a pitcher's duel between Santana and St. Joseph's-Brooklyn starter Andrew Watters. Both starters finished with complete games and kept both offenses at bay throughout the seven inning contest.

The Bears got on the board first in the bottom of the third as a Mount Saint Mary error with two outs allowed Michael Gonzalez to score the first run of the contest.
St. Joseph's-Brooklyn threatened for more damage in the bottom of the fifth after Michael Ryan singled to left field with two outs and runners on first and second. A.
Rizzo gunned down Gonzalez at the plate to keep the Bears lead at a one run lead.

The Bears also got runners to second and third with one out in the bottom of the sixth before Santana got back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat and give the Knights a chance to comeback in the final inning.

To lead off the seventh inning, Mirra and Merlin each singled to give the Knights a runner in scoring position. After two consecutive outs, Joe Stewart (Valley Stream, N.Y.) drew a walk to load the bases for Goodwin. He laced a double down the left field line to plate three runs and give the Knights its first lead of the contest. Santana followed it up with an infield single to give the Mount an additional insurance run heading into the final half inning.

After a leadoff single and a strikeout, Santana got a groundball to third base and the Knights attempted to turn a double play to end the game. After the out was recorded at second base, the throw to first went wide and went to the fence. The runner took a turn toward second base and catcher Robert Brust (Shirley, N.Y.) backed up the play and picked up the ball, tagging the runner before he returned to first base to record the final out of the game.

Santana picked up his second win of the season, allowing six hits over seven innings and allowed one unearned run while striking out nine. Watters took the tough loss allowing six hits on four runs over his seven innings.

Gonzalez finished 3-for-3 with a stolen base and William DeLuca was 2-for-3 in the nightcap for the Bears. Six different players had a hit for the Knights and Stewart drew three walks. Goodwin and Santana combined for four RBI's in the contest as Goodwin pushed his team lead in runs batted in to nine.

At 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the Skyline, the Knights return to action at home against the United States Merchant Marine Academy. First pitch of the doubleheader at Dutchess Stadium is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.