WEEK of: APRIL 25-MAY 1, 2011
Junior shortstop #ROB GONZALEZ# (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) is the NJCU Men’s co-Athlete of the Week for the first time this season and third time in his career after a sensational seven-game effort for NJCU as the Gothic Knights won three NJAC games, including the first season sweep of Montclair State University in the history of the program.
Gonzalez, arguably the top leadoff hitter in the league, hit safely in every game, and had multiple hits in six of the seven outings, including a pair of three-hit performances. For the week he amassed an amazing 15 hits and batted .441 (15-34) with five runs, two RBIs and two doubles while stealing 7-of-8 bases successfully. He had a .441 on-base and .500 slugging percentage.
He upped his three-year hits total to 176, now just 20 hits shy of NJCU’s all-time program record of 196, and swiped his 23rd base of the season.
In a doubleheader at Rowan University on April 25 (lost 5-2 and 13-3), Gonzalez was a combined 4-for-10 with a run and three steals, collecting two hits in each game. In a road loss to Baruch College on April 26 (11-3), Gonzalez was 3-for-5 with a run, double and steal.
Then, midweek NJCU turned on its late-season NJAC jets and won three of its final four NJAC contests. In a 15-3 rout of Montclair State in Jersey City on April 27—NJCU’s first win over the Red Hawks since April 2004, snapping an 11-game losing streak—Gonzalez was 3-for-6 with two runs and his 21st and 22nd stolen bases of the season, moving him into fifth place in school history with 63 swipes.
Two days later as NJCU won in Little Falls, NJ for the first time since 1999, and posted its first-ever season sweep of Montclair, Gonzalez sparked the Knights, batting 2-for-5 as NJCU prevailed, 4-2.
In a doubleheader against Richard Stockton College on April 30, he batted 1-for-4 in a game one loss (4-1) before producing a 2-for-4 effort with a run, RBI and stolen base as NJCU edged the Ospreys, 3-2. Gonzalez helped produce runs with small ball as he led off with a single, stole second and scored for a 1-0 lead on another single. In the bottom of the seventh inning, his RBI groundout up the middle provided the go-ahead run for a 3-2 lead and he used his speed to prevent an inning ending double play. In the ninth inning he was part of an impressive defensive double play between the middle infield to help seal the win.
For the season through May 1, Gonzalez is batting .353 with 54 hits (54-153) and 23 steals in 28 attempts. He has scored 29 runs with 14 RBIs, five doubles and 59 total bases and owns a .944 fielding percentage, primarily at shortstop and second base. He had a .379 on-base percentage. Gonzalez leads the NJAC in total hits and at bats, ranks second in steals, 11th in runs and 13th in batting average.
