New Jersey City University Athletics

 

BRONX, NY…As a freshman in 2005, New Jersey City University leftfielder ROB SUMNER (Union, NJ/Union) broke a 19-year-old school record by scoring 46 runs. With 11 games remaining in the 2006 regular season, Sumner is making an all-out assault on his own record, and another he seems destined to break. On Tuesday, Sumner keyed an 18-hit attack, by going 3-for-5 with four runs and four stolen bases, as NJCU snapped a six-game losing streak with a 14-12 non-conference road victory over Lehman College. NJCU scored in ever inning but the sixth and left 11 runners on base.

 

NJCU improves to 14-15 overall, while Lehman, which won the first meeting between these clubs on March 21 in Jersey City, 14-13, falls to 5-15, with its four straight loss. Lehman stranded 10 in the game.

 

Sumner brought his runs total to 38. Meanwhile, with four steals, he now is 28-for-30 on the base paths this season. The 28 steals allowed the sophomore speedster to vault over six other players in the record book and move into second place all-time on the single-season list, behind only Carmine Turso, who swiped 34 bags in 1995.

 

JAVAN CAMACHO" src="/images/baseball/2006/4/11/03-21-06%20Javan%20Camacho%2011.jpg" width=150 align=right border=0>In a game in which six NJCU players had multiple hits, junior first baseman JAVAN CAMACHO (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) stood out, going 3-for-5 with three doubles, two runs and two RBIs. Sophomore second/third baseman RUBEN BORGES (Union, NJ/Union) was 3-for-6 with two runs, two RBIs and two doubles.

 

Senior centerfielder KEITH NAYLOR (Hamilton, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) smacked his fourth homerun of the season, going 1-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Sophomore rightfielder ANTHONY MACKOW (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) was 3-for-5 with two runs. Junior second baseman/shortstop MATT CARAVANO (Elizabeth, NJ/Roselle Catholic) did not have a hit, but collected a team-high three RBIs.

 

Also for NJCU, sophomore designated hitter MICHAEL McCORMICK (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) was 2-for-5 with one RBI. Freshman ROBERT DELFINO (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson County Prep) was 2-for-4 with one run. He also earned his first career save by thwarting a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth by recording the final out.

 

For Lehman, senior second baseman Johanny Reyes (Bronx, NY/Walton) was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, two runs, a double and a triple. Senior centerfielder David Malave (Bronx, NY/St. Raymond) was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs. Freshman left fielder/first baseman Kareem Benjamin (Bronx, NY/Kennedy) and junior rightfielder Lenny Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Tuckahoe) were each 2-for-4 with one run and combined for three RBIs.

 

Sophomore right-hander AHSON SHAHID (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) didn’t have his best stuff, but earned the win to improve to 4-2 on the season. He allowed five runs and seven hits with three strikeouts and four walks in 5.0 innings.

 

NJCU opened an 8-0 lead with a run in the first, two in the second, three in the third, and two more in the fourth. Naylor cranked his two-run homerun in the third. Lehman scored twice in the fourth to make it 8-2.

 

The fifth inning was all Sumner. In a display of speed and sly base running, he singled, then proceeded to steal second, third and home for a 9-2 lead. Lehman pulled within 9-5 after five innings as Reyes tallied a bases-loaded double, before a single run in the sixth made it 9-6.

 

NJCU tacked on two runs in the seventh, including a bases loaded walk by DelFino to make it 11-6.

Each team scored single runs in the eighth, and NJCU headed to the final frame leading 12-7.

In the top of the ninth, Borges belted a two-run double to score Caravano and Borges, and those two runs, which gave the Knights a 14-7 advantage, proved to be decisive.

 

In the bottom of the ninth, Lehman sent nine batters to the plate, scoring five times on four hits to make the outcome a little closer. An RBI triple by Reyes made it 14-8, and a bases loaded walk closed the gap to 14-9. A two-run double by Malave shaved the score to 14-11, before Benjamin singled for a 14-12 margin. But, DelFino got Gonzalez to ground into a game-ending fielder’s choice, and NJCU hung on for the win.

 

Freshman Jason Grijalba (Brooklyn, NY/South Bronx) lost for the Lightning, allowing eight runs and seven hits in four innings.

 

NJCU will return to action on Friday, April 14 at 3:30 p.m. in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game at Rutgers-Newark. NJCU won the first meeting between the clubs on March 31, 3-2.