LYNDHURST, N.J. - Bloomfield came to the field with a ton of fire and intensity but it wasn't enough to take down the defending Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) champions, Felician College. The Golden Falcons (8-14, 2-0) swept the Bears (1-8, 0-3) in a conference double-header on Monday, winning game one 12-4 and game two 12-1.

For most of the first game it looked like Bloomfield found its mojo. Senior pitcher, Lucas Junger (Waretown, N.J.) got off to an amazing start. The righty retired the first 10 batters he faced and held Felician hitless until the fifth inning. The Bears offense gave Junger a nice lead to work with too. Juan Hilario (Bronx, N.Y.) drove in the first run of the game in third after he singled to right plating freshman, Juan Reina (Paterson, N.J.) who reached on a triple. Isaac Pichardo (Passaic, N.J.) continued to swing a hot bat going 2-4 with an RBI single in the fourth driving in senior, Ray Lang (Middlesex, N.J.) making it 2-0 Bloomfield. Reina extended that lead to 3-0 in the top of the seventh with a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Brandon Morales (Hialeah, F.L.). Reina and Morales each went 2-4 in game one.

The Golden Falcons came out in the bottom half of the seventh and took control of the game. Junger started off the inning by walking Branden Shaw (Cooper city, F.L.) and hitting Brennan Price (Middlesex, N.J.) to give Felician some life on the base pads. Andrew Lamura (Brick, N.J) then tripled deep to center field, bringing in Shaw and Price making it 3-2. The rally continued with a Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J.) single up the middle to drive in Lamura and tie the game at 3-3. It looked like Felician was done for the inning when Matt Diesel (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) popped up a bunt attempt to Carlos Flete (Jamaica, N.Y.) at third and Matt Kleinstein (Marlboro, N.J.) struck out swinging, but Junger then beaned J.R. Meneses (Lake Worth, F.L.) to keep the inning alive. Junger was then taken out and Francesco Scudiero (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was brought in to keep the game tied at 3-3, but the Golden Falcons had other plans.

Scudiero walked the first batter he faced to load the bases before surrendering a single to Fisher that drove in two runs, giving Felician their first lead of the game 5-3. The Golden Falcons' Shaw came up to cap off the rally with a two run single of his own, pushing the lead to 7-3.

Bloomfield's bullpen allowed the game to get out of hand after Felicians' big seventh inning. Senior Mark Reyes (Bronx, N.Y.) came in to pitch the eighth and walked the first two batters he faced before getting pulled. Kyle Murzyn (Glassboro, N.J.) came in and couldn't slow down Felicians' offense either. The Golden Falcons scored five more in the bottom of the eighth thanks to an RBI single by Jason Polgano (Bronx, N.Y.) and a three-run inside the park homerun by Rob Fisher (Matawan, N.J.) to make it 12-3.

The Bears were able to bring in a run in the top of the ninth when Harry Montero (Millville, N.J.) singled to left driving in a run that made it 12-4 in game one.
Felician carried their momentum into game two but Bloomfield did get on the board first after a Reina single to right plated Pichardo giving them an early 1-0 lead. That would be the only run the Bears pushed across all game. The Golden Falcons' hurler, Jack Fowler (Shrewsbury, N.J.) shut down the Bloomfield offense for the remainder of the game. The Bears offense scratched out just four hits during the game while striking out 12 times.

On the defensive side of the ball, things weren't much better for Bloomfield as they committed five errors behind senior pitcher Ariel Tineo (Valley Stream, N.Y.). Felician answered right back in the bottom half of the first, tying the game at 1-1 with a Shaw ground out that plated Polgano. The Golden Falcons took control of the game in third, putting together a five run inning highlighted by a three-run inside the park homerun by Shaw and a two-run inside the park homerun by Gerard De Filippo (East Hanover, N.J.) making it 6-1 in favor of the home team.

Tineo exited after three innings due to injury and Justin Eclavea (South San Francisco, C.A.) came on in relief and had a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth. The Golden Falcons returned to put up three more runs in the fifth, one in the sixth and two in the seventh making it 12-1. Isaiah Arroyo (Tampa, F.L.) came in to relieve Eclavea in the seventh and pitched 1.2 scoreless innings to finish up the game and send Felician soaring to a 2-0 start in conference play.

Bloomfield will look to end their four game skid as they take to the road to play Molloy College at the Rockville Centre in New York on Wednesday, March 25th. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. with Live Stats for the game found HERE.

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(story written by Mark Reyes - Sports Information Department intern)