NEWARK, N.J. – In a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) doubleheader with Wilmington University that featured seven homeruns, the Bloomfield College Bears baseball team managed a split with the league leading Wildcats Wednesday afternoon at West Side Park. Luke Loughery (Sussex, N.J.), Juan Reina (Paterson, N.J.) and Ben Thomas (Burlington, N.J.) all went deep in the game one, 7-4 setback while Luis Hidalgo (Ridgefield, N.J.) went yard in game two to help the Bears to a, 4-2 victory in game two.
 
The split moved the Wildcats to 10-18 overall and 8-2 in conference games while the Bears improved to 7-19 for the season and 4-8 in league action.
 
Junior Charles Castellano (Bayonne, N.J.) picked up only his second loss on the season with a complete game outing in game one. Freshman Justin Torres (Teaneck, N.J.) went seven innings on the mound and secured his second win of the season with his game two performance.  
 
The Wildcats opened up the scoring early in game one, putting up a four spot in the first inning on Castellano to take a 4-0 lead. Wilmington added two more runs in the third and seemed in control, 6-0 until Loughery responded with a lead-off homerun in the bottom half of the third. Junior Brandon Morales (Hialeah, Fla.) then doubled to right center and Reina step to the plate for a 2 RBI blast over the left field fence to cut the home team's deficit in half, 6-3.
 
Castellano settled in and kept the Wildcats off the board for the next three innings and Bloomfield drew closer in the bottom of the sixth. Thomas found a spot over the left field fence he like and drove a shot out of the park and pulled the Bears to within 6-4.
 
Wilmington answered with a one-out homerun in the seventh and that advantage held true the rest of the game, 7-4.
 
In game two Torres posted five scoreless innings holding the CACC leading Wildcats of the board while the Bloomfield offense tacked on three runs thru five. A lead off single by Harold Hester (Lakehurst, N.J.) began the first inning for the home team and a Cristopher Cabral (Lodi, N.J.) grounder later scored the speedy left-fielder to stake a 1-0 lead. Bloomfield doubled their lead in the third when Anthony Lantigua (Belleville, N.J.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and scored Reina who had reached on a single to centerfield.
 
Hidalgo made it a 3-0 game after his first homerun as a Bear led off the third inning, a solo shot that landed in the leftfield grass beyond the fence. Torres offered up a pitch in sixth that Rocky Ferrier placed over the wall in right to cut the Wildcats deficit to 3-1. Bloomfield quickly responded in the bottom half, gaining back the run on a passed ball that plated Lantigua who reached on a single to third base.
 
The Bears freshman left-hander surrendered one more run in the seventh after a lead off walk came around to score but Wilmington was unable to bridge the 4-2 gap as classmate Anthony Maldonado (Newark, N.J.) came on in relief and picked up his first save of 2016.
 
Next up, the Bears will host the Devils of USciences as the CACC inducts Bloomfield's athletic department late pioneer Al Restaino Sr. into the league's Hall of Fame Saturday, Apr 16. The ceremony is scheduled for 12:00 pm with the first pitch of the doubleheader set to follow immediately. 


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