NEWARK, N.J. – The Concordia Clippers baseball team concluded their regular season schedule on Thursday afternoon at Bloomfield College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) North Division doubleheader on the road. Concordia was unable to come away with a win on the day as the Bears took game one, 7-5, and game two, 6-2, over the Clippers.
In the first game Bloomfield would score three runs in the first inning to take the early lead. Concordia answered back in the top of the third with two runs to trail 3-2 as freshman Jake Partridge (Bardonia, N.Y.) hit a single to the outfield and drive in a pair of runs. The Clippers would knot the game in their next at-bats as a single for sophomore Joseph Impeduglia (Staten Island, N.Y.) allowed senior Joseph Davide (West Hempstead, N.Y.) to score.
Concordia would score the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth as freshman Hermes Abreu (Bayshore, N.Y.) drove in junior Tyler Epple (Levittown, N.Y.) from third base. The Bears used their next at-bats to tie the game back up, 4-4, but the Clippers would take a 5-4 advantage after junior John Calabrese (Lodi, N.J.) recorded an RBI off a single to bring home freshman Blake Burgan (Holbrook, N.Y.) from second base.
Bloomfield would tie the score at 5-5 in the home half of the eighth and then hit a two-out two-run home run to take a 7-5 lead. Concordia was unable to score any more runs in their last at-bats as the Bears took the 7-5 win. Junior John Wall (Levittown, N.Y.) pitched the complete game for the Clippers in the loss as he allowed five earned runs on eight hits while striking out two batters in 8.0 innings of work.
Game two saw Bloomfield take a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning as the home team grabbed another early advantage. Concordia would cut their deficit to a run in the top of the sixth as Davide and Epple both recorded RBIs in the inning. The Bears used the home half of the sixth to extend their lead to 6-2 as it would come down to the Clippers' last at-bats in the seventh. Concordia was unable to mount a late comeback as Bloomfield held on for the 6-2 victory.
Impeduglia was tagged with the loss as he allowed three earned runs on six hits while striking out five batters in 3.2 innings of work. The bullpen for the Clippers completed the final 2.1 innings allowing three earned runs on two hits while striking out two batters.
Concordia (20-25, 16-16 CACC) will next visit Felician University for the first round of the CACC Championship Tournament on Saturday. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. in Lyndhurst, N.J. as fans unable to attend can follow the action by clicking on the live stats link under the baseball schedule page on ConcordiaClippers.com.