New Jersey City University Athletics

 

 

JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University junior centerfielder ROB SUMNER (Union, NJ/Union) went 3-for-3 and scored three times to become NJCU’s all-time leader in runs with 133, and junior shortstop JOSE FULGENCIO (Bronx, NY/San Rafael, Dominican Republic) tied the school record by extending his hitting streak to 23 consecutive games as the Gothic Knights cruised to an 11-2 win over Baruch College in a non-conference contest at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.

 

NJCU wins at least 15 games for the third consecutive season, improving to 15-18 overall, while Baruch falls to 6-18.

 

Fulgencio, who finished 1-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs, hit safely in his 23^rd consecutive game, tying the hitting streak record set by Don Nelson in 2001. With two RBIs, he now has 43—five shy of tying Rich Levens’ 1988 single-season record of 48.

 

Sumner finished 3-for-3 with three runs and one RBI, giving him 133 runs in three seasons. That eclipsed the program record of 132 by Phil Zaffarano from 1994-97. Sumner also swiped two bases, giving him 23 this year and 77 in his career—three shy of breaking that all-time record.

 

ALEX MENA" src="/images/baseball/2007/4/24/03-30-07%20Alex%20Mena%204.JPG" width=150 align=left border=0>In all, NJCU banged out 14 hits. Freshman catcher ALEX MENA (North Bergen, NJ/Hudson Catholic) finished 4-for-4 with two RBIs and a double, while junior rightfielder ANTHONY CACCHIOLA (Union, NJ/Union) was 3-for-4 with three runs, a double and a triple. Junior second baseman ANDREW DECIBUS (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) finished 2-for-3 with two runs. Freshman MATTHEW NICE (Kearny, NJ/Paterson Catholic) was 1-for-1 with three RBIs and double.

 

Senior right-hander MILTON RODRIGUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/Marist) earned the win (3-2), tossing seven innings while striking out seven and walking one. He allowed two runs and six hits. Freshman righty #HECTOR HERRERA, Jr.# (Newark, NJ/Newark-East Side) pitched the final two innings, allowing one hit, with two strikeouts and two walks.

 

For Baruch, junior leftfielder Wayne Bartley (Bronx, NY/Samuel Gompers) was 2-for-4 while senior shortstop Cesar Chaves (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) was 2-for-4 with one run. Freshman pitcher/designated hitter David Chestnut (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) was 2-for-4 with both Baruch RBIs. He took the loss, pitching seven innings, falling to 1-5.

 

After Baruch scored in the first on a Chestnut RBI single, the Knights tied it in the bottom of the inning on a Fulgencio sacrifice fly.

 

NJCU broke open a 1-1 game in the bottom of the fifth inning by scoring five times, and added three runs in the six and two in the seventh to account for all of its offense.

 

In the fifth, Cacchiola led off with his first triple of the year, and scored on a Sumner single. An RBI single by Fulgencio extended his streak and allowed Sumner to score his 132^nd run. The Knights added two runs on ground balls, and a fifth on a sacrifice fly.

 

In the sixth inning, Nice drew a bases loaded walk, and Mena laced a two-run single down the left field line, scoring Sumner, who had singled, with the record-breaking run. NJCU’s final two runs came on a two-run double by Nice in the seventh.

 

NJCU returns to action on Thursday, April 26 at 3:30 p.m. when it visits Montclair State University for a New Jersey Athletic Conference in Little Falls, NJ. Baruch plays that night at SUNY-Old Westbury.