The February 21 season opener not only marks the earliest in school history, but is NJCU's first game ever played during the month of February. NJCU and Farmingdale are both 1-1. NJCU leads the all-time series, 5-3; all eight games have been played at FSC.
*****GAME 1: NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 4, FARMINGDALE STATE COLLEGE 2 *****
Montalbano, a transfer from Keystone College, allowed just two hits and no earned runs with four strikeouts and a walk in 5.2 innings over 80 pitches to score the win.
Junior right-handed closer
JOSEPH TARALLO (South Amboy, NJ/Hoffman) worked out of trouble in the bottom of the seventh, striking out two batters, including one with runners on second and third with a 3-2 pitch to collect the save.
Burke was 2-for-3 with an RBI triple as the cleanup hitter while freshman designated hitter
ROB GONZALEZ (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) led off both games and went 2-for-4 with one RBI in the opener. Junior right fielder
KEN WITTE (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional) was 1-for-2 with a triple and two runs, scoring the go-ahead run in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie before crossing with an insurance run in the top of the seventh.
In defeat, FSC senior righty
Tom Heeman (Valley Stream, NY/Hewlett) struck out six and walked one, while allowing six hits and four runs (two earned) in 6.1 innings.
The Gothic Knights took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when
Burke tripled to left field, scoring sophomore third baseman
MICHAEL FIORENTINO (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Point Pleasant Beach) who reached on an error.
In the bottom of the first, the Rams had two players reach, on a hit-by-pitch and infield error, and gained a 2-1 lead on a two-run double to left center by sophomore first baseman Kevin Curtis (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead).
Junior catcher
ALEX MENA (North Bergen, NJ/Hudson Catholic) tied it at 2-2 in the second when he doubled to right on the first pitch he saw this season, before scoring on an infield error.
The game remained even until the fifth when Witte tripled to right, before coming home on an RBI single by Gonzalez.
With two outs in the sixth, FSC singled off of
Montalbano. Freshman righty
THOMAS VERMAZEN (San Diego, CA/Point Loma) entered, and on the first pitch he tossed as a collegiate pitcher after flying 3,000 miles to the East Coast, coerced a fielder's choice to end the inning.
With one out in the seventh, Witte walked, advanced to second on a bunt single by Gonzalez and scored on an RBI single by Fiorentino for a 4-2 lead.
Tarallo entered in the bottom of the seventh, allowed a one-out double and a walk, and with two outs, a double steal put the Rams on second and third. But on a 3-2 pitch, he blew a fastball past pinch hitter Mike Dietrich (Lindenhurst, NY/Lindenhurst), for the save and NJCU victory.
*****GAME 2: FARMINGDALE STATE COLLEGE 4, NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 2 *****
The Rams received a 3-for-3 effort and two RBIs from rookie catcher Frank Scarlato (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) in his first career game while junior right fielder Frank Ennis (Commack, NY/Commack) and junior left fielder Don Moscatelli (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) each went 2-for-3 with a run scored as the trio combined for seven of the 10 FSC hits.
Senior left-hander Mike Gionesi (Bellmore, NY/Mepham) allowed two earned runs and five hits over four innings, with four strikeouts and no walks, to earn the win.
Burke was 2-for-3 with a double, but was the only Gothic Knights with multiple hits. NJCU tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the second when Mena slammed the first pitch of the inning over the right field wall for his second career homerun, but the Knights did not score the remainder of the game.
Junior lefty James Raimondi (Medford, NY/Patchogue) and freshman righty Chris Phelan (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) each tossed an inning of scoreless relief, allowing a hit apiece before junior right-handed closer Billy Garofalo (Patchogue, NY/Patchogue-Medford) fired a 1-2-3 seventh to claim the save.
As it did in game one, NJCU scored in the top of the first as senior center/left fielder MARK HOYER (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge (CA) and Burke posted back-to-back doubles, with Burke driving in his teammate with a shot off the left field wall. Junior designated hitter Mike Labrozzi (Sag Harbor, NY/Pierson) tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning with a double down the right field line.
After Mena, who played right field in the game, homered, the lead held up until the fourth inning. After a one-out single, the Rams caught a break when a sharp ground ball up the middle by Moscatelli, who may have grounded into an inning-ending double play, instead caught the heel of NJCU sophomore righty JEFF KARCZEWSKI (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West). With runners on the corners, Scarlato then tripled to right, driving in two runs, for a 3-2 lead. The Rams added a run in the home sixth on a throwing error. Karczewski took the loss; in five innings, he allowed three earned runs and seven hits.
With two games under its belt, NJCU will head to Florida in early March, where it will play 10 games at the Russ Matt College Spring Break Invitational. Its first game of the trip is on Thursday, March 5 at 4 p.m. against Gwynedd-Mercy College.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Game 1: Saturday, February 21, 2009 | Farmingdale, NY
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New Jersey City University (1-0)
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1
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1
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0
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0
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1
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0
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1
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X
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X
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4
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8
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2
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Farmingdale State College (0-1)
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2
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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X
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X
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2
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3
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2
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WP: STEPHEN MONTALBANO (1-0). LP: Tom Heeman (0-1). SV: JOSEPH TARALLO (1)
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Game 2: Saturday, February 21, 2009 | Farmingdale, NY
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New Jersey City University (1-1)
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1
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1
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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X
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X
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2
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7
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1
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Farmingdale State College (1-1)
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1
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0
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0
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2
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0
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1
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X
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X
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X
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4
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10
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0
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WP: Mike Gionesi (1-0) LP: JEFF KARCZEWSKI (0-1). SV: Billy Garofalo (1). HR: N-ALEX MENA (1).
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