WEEK of: APRIL 25-MAY 1, 2011
Sophomore right-hander #WENDELL RODRIGUEZ# (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) is the NJCU Men’s co-Athlete of the Week and earns Athlete of the Week accolades for the second time this season and the second time in his career after he hurled a complete-game three-hitter as the Gothic Knights won the back-end of a home-and-home New Jersey Athletic Conference series, stunning Montclair State University, 4-2, on April 29 at Yogi Berra Stadium. In the process, NJCU accomplished something it has never done before in the sport of baseball—sweeping a season series from Montclair State. Opponents hit just .107 against him during the week.
Rodriguez, who has pitched brilliantly in several outings this season—most notably a four-hitter in a 1-0 road loss against then #3 ranked Kean University on April 14—entered the game with a truly misleading 1-7 record. In a complete-game, 119-pitch effort, he gave up just three singles and allowed only seven runners to reach base. Rodriguez struck out two, walked two and none of the three MSU hits led to a run as he won his second game of the season.
After MSU scored a run in the first inning, Rodriguez would then shut down the Red Hawks as he retired 10 of the next 11 batters, and over a four-inning stretch only two MSU batters reached base—one on an error and the other on a wicked hop single. After NJCU scored two in the ninth to grab a 4-2 lead, Rodriguez made that stand up as he allowed a one-out single in the ninth before retiring the next two hitters—both on 3-2 pitches—to seal the complete-game victory.
