BOX SCORE
ORLANDO, FL…Hours after touching down in Florida on Friday, the
New Jersey City University baseball team got down to business and opened their 2009 spring trip with what can be considered an enormous victory. Junior right-hander
STEPHEN MONTALBANO (North Brunswick, NJ/Bishop George Ahr) struck out eight and did not allow an earned run in a complete-game performance, and sophomore shortstop
TOM BURKE (Edison, NJ/Immaculata) fired a perfect relay throw to senior catcher
KRISTOPHER BRUS (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) to gun down a runner at the plate to end the game as the Gothic Knights knocked off 2008 NCAA Tournament qualifier Gwynedd-Mercy College, 2-1 on Thursday afternoon in the Russ Matt College Spring Break Invitational.
NJCU, which played the game at Disney's Wide World of Sports Field #5, improves to 2-1 this season while Gwynedd-Mercy, the 2008 Colonial State Athletic Conference champion, drops to 5-6. Four of the Griffins' five losses coming into the game were against teams currently ranked in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association/D3Baseball Top 25 poll.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, GMC sophomore third baseman Mike Albert (Levittown, PA/Pennsbury) lofted a triple into the right-center field gap and attempted to tie the game with an inside-the-park homerun. But senior left/center fielder MARK HOYER (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge (CA) hit Burke with the relay throw and from 40 feet into the outfield, Burke fired a perfect strike to Brus, who applied the tag that ended the game.
Montalbano improved to 2-0 in his first year with the Knights. In nine innings he struck out eight without walking a better, and allowed just eight hits and no earned runs. The triple by Albert was the lone extra-base hit off of Montalbano.
In defeat, the Griffins received an equally solid performance from freshman righty Andrew Sinon (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan), who struck out 11 batters in eight innings and allowed just five hits. He gave up two runs (one earned) and walked two, but fell to 1-1 overall.
Offensively, sophomore third baseman
MICHAEL FIORENTINO (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Point Pleasant Beach) was 2-for-3 while freshman second baseman/right fielder
ROB GONZALEZ (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) scored both runs and had a double in a 1-for-3 showing.
Hoyer had one RBI. Also for NJCU, junior right fielder
KEN WITTE (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional) and freshman first baseman
JOE STEINBERGER (San Diego, CA/San Diego) each had a hit.
For GMC, junior shortstop Scott Carroll (Churchville, PA/Council Rock South) was the lone player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3.
NJCU capitalized on a pair of Griffin mistakes in the bottom of the first inning for a 1-0 lead. Gonzalez led off by reaching on an error by Carroll, advanced to second on a single by Fiorentino, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hoyer and scored on a wild pitch.
GMC tied it in the top of the sixth when freshman catcher Todd Budweg (Lansdale, PA/Lansdale Catholic) led off with a single, before moving to third on an error and scoring on a fielder's choice.
NJCU had two runners in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the third when Gonzalez walked and Fiorentino singled, before advancing on a wild pitch, but were stranded.
After Montalbano retired seven straight Griffin batters through the fifth, NJCU took the lead for good in the bottom of the inning. Gonzalez led off with a double, advanced to third on a fielder's choice, before scoring on a sac fly by Hoyer.
In the sixth inning, Carroll singled and was on third with two outs before Montalbano struck out the final batter to end the threat.
In the bottom of the seventh,
Witte led off with a single and senior
JORGE PARDO (West New York, NJ/Memorial), who entered as a pinch runner, advanced to third with one out, but
Sinon forced a pair of ground outs to end the inning.
In the top of the eighth, Carroll led off with another single, advanced to second on a throwing error, and moved to third on a groundout. But Montalbano preserved the win by duplicating Sinon with a pair of induced groundouts. That led to the top of the ninth and the Hoyer-Burke-Brus highlight reel play to end the game.
NJCU will face Milwaukee School of Engineering on Friday, March 6 beginning at 1 p.m. in a doubleheader in Auburndale, FL. Both games will be seven innings.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Thursday, March 05, 2009 | Orlando, FL
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Gwynedd-Mercy College (5-6)
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0
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0
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1
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0
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0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
8
|
2
|
|
New Jersey City University (2-1)
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1
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0
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0
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0
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1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
X
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2
|
5
|
2
|
|
WP: STEPHEN MONTALBANO (2-0). LP: Andrew Sinon (1-1).
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