WEEK of: APRIL 4-10, 2011
Freshman catcher MARISSA BARISO (Hewitt, NJ/West Milford) is the NJCU Women’s Athlete of the Week for the first time in her career after posting an outstanding offensive week for NJCU, which included breaking the single-season record for homeruns by a rookie. Bariso batted .556 (10-18) with a .600 on-base percentage and .833 slugging rate over six games. She hit safely in five of six games and added five runs and four RBIs with two extra base hits and two steals. She leads the New Jersey Athletic Conference in homeruns as a freshman.
In a doubleheader sweep of Baruch College on April 7—a team that already has wins over NJAC clubs this season—Bariso was 3-for-3 with a RBI in game one before blasting a record-setting three-run homerun in game two asNJCU swept the twinbill 7-3 and 5-1. In game one, Bariso led the 10-hit attack going 3-for-3 with a run and RBI. In game two, Bariso had three of NJCU’s four RBIs in the game. In the fifth, NJCU put the game away. With one out and two on, Bariso slammed the first pitch she saw deep to over the right center fence for a three-run bomb and 5-1 lead.
Bariso became just the fifth different player in school history to bang out five homeruns in a season and when her fifth round-tripper of the year left the yard in the fifth inning of game two, the sweet-swinging newcomer set a single-season school record for homeruns by a rookie, breaking the mark of four achieved in 1998 by Jen Barletta—an all-time great player from 1998-2001 who owns most overall single-season and career offensive records in the 31-year history of the program.
On April 9 in an NJAC doubleheader at Rutgers-Newark, Bariso went 1-for-3 with one run in game one before producing another strong effort in game two, going 4-for-4 with two runs and a triple.
In game one of a doubleheader with Montclair State University on April 6, she was 1-for-3 with one steal. She didn’t have a hit in game two.
On the season, Bariso is batting .351 (27-77) while starting all 24 games for the Gothic Knights (11-13). She has 21 RBIs, 20 runs and 10 extra-base hits—four doubles, one triple and five homeruns. Additionally, she owns a .427 on-base and .623 slugging percentage and is 6-for-6 in steals. She has amassed 48 total bases with nine walks and two hit by pitches. Defensively, she has made only three errors in 88 opportunities for a .966 fielding percentage.
Among the NJAC leaders, Bariso also ranks fourth in RBIs and total bases, fifth in sacrifice flies, seventh in slugging and runs scored, eighth in triples, 11th in hits, 15th in walks, 16th in steals, 20th in on-base percentage, 26th in batting average, and 27th in doubles.
