BLOOMFIELD - The baseball team improved to 12-23 overall and 8-9 in CACC play Wednesday afternoon, as they swept the Nyack College Warriors 2-1, and 8-4 in a pivotal conference doubleheader at Westside Park. 

Needing to win their five remaining CACC contests in order to secure a spot in May's conference tournament, the Deacons rode the brilliant pitching of junior righty Luis Mendoza to a one-run victory in the opener.  Taking the mound on three days rest, Mendoza surrendered a solo homer to Nyack right fielder Michael Frank in the top of the second to put Bloomfield behind 1-0.  But the Deacons' hurler would settle in to turn in another phenominal performance, striking out eight and going the distance without walking a hitter. 

Bloomfield would draw even in the bottom of the fourth, when Chris Rosa drove in Luis Buron with a sacrifice fly to knot the contest at a run apiece.  The pitcher's duel would remain deadlocked until the bottom of the sixth, when Buron drove his second home run of the season over the right-centerfield wall to put the Deacons on top 2-1.  The Warriors would not mount a serious threat the rest of the way, allowing Bloomfield to take the opener by the slimmest of margins.

Buron finished the game 2-4 with an RBI and scoring both Bloomfield runs, while freshman center fielder Joe Meola notched a pair of hits in four trips to the plate.  Emilio Fernandez, Alberto Ruiz and Rosa each notched a hit apiece in the victory.



It appeared as if the Deacons would cruise to a series sweep of the Warriors in the early stages of Game Two, with the home team scoring the first five runs of the game to take a commanding 5-0 lead.  Mike Monaco drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the bottom of the second to get the Deacons on the board, and starting pitcher Steve Godowski shut the Warriors down through the first five frames.

Bloomfield would push the advantage to 4-0 in the bottom of the third, as Fernandez and Medina each smacked RBI hits to start the three-run inning.  Rosa drew a run-scoring walk to plate the third run of the frame, putting the Deacons comfortably ahead. 

The lead would move to 5-0 on a Medina RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but the Warriors would bounce back with a four-run top of the sixth to move to within a single run and leave the Deacons reeling.  Godowski would go six and two-thirds innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and eventually turning the ball over to junior southpaw Edwin Cruz.  The soft-tossing lefty baffled the Warriors over the final seven outs, preserving the lead and picking up the first save of his Bloomfield College career.

Cruz's outstanding work out of the bullpen allowed the Deacons to weather the Nyack onslaught, and put the game away with three runs over the final three innings of the tilt.  Jason Luzzi plated Ruiz with an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh, later scoring on a wild pitch to notch the second run of the inning.  Ruiz drove in Medina with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to move the lead to 8-4, ensuring a crucial series sweep and keeping Bloomfield alive in the chase for the CACC playoffs.

Ruiz finished Game Two 3-4 with an RBI, while Medina went 2-4 with a pair of RBIs in the victory.

"We played some good baseball today, and that allowed us to pick up a big sweep," Deacons head coach Jeff Watson said.  "We have three conference games left, and we need them all if we want to reach our goal of the CACC Tournament.  If we play the way we did today, I think we can accomplish that."

Bloomfield returns to action Saturday, April 23 with a road doubleheader against non-conference opponent Queens College.  First pitch for the opener is set for Noon.