The Profs jumped out to a 12-0 lead in the first three innings of game one, and held off a nine-run Gothic Knight surge, including seven fifth-inning runs, to win, 12-9. It was the eighth time NJCU has lost by three or fewer runs this season
NJCU improves to 13-21-1 (3-11 NJAC) while Rowan is 19-10-1 and 8-6 in the league. The game-two win by the Knights snapped a nine-game losing streak to the perennial power Profs and was the first victory in the series since taking a 6-5 decision in Glassboro on March 29, 2003.
It marked the conclusion of six games in four days for NJCU and was the makeup of an April 11 rainout.
*********GAME 1: ROWAN UNIVERSITY 12, NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 9*********
Rowan scored six runs in the first inning, then six more between the second and third innings to take a 12-0 lead, behind a six-RBI performance from senior rightfielder John McMullin (Woodbury, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), who was 3-for-5 with two runs, two doubles and a home run. Senior centerfielder Garrett Mull (Chatsworth, NJ/Lenape) added a 3-for-5 showing with two RBIs, one run scored and a double.
Also for the Profs, senior first baseman Sam Parks (Monroeville, NJ/Woodstown) was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, one run and a homer. Senior catcher Tim Barnshaw (Dayton, NJ/S. Brunswick) scored twice and had two doubles and one RBI in a 2-for-5 showing. Senior first baseman Tom Ready (Blackwood, NJ/Triton Regional) ended 2-for-5 with two runs.
Sophomore shortstop
MICHAEL FIORENTINO (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Point Pleasant) led five NJCU players with multiple hits, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs while rookie second baseman
ROB GONZALEZ (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) had a 3-for-5, one-run game, giving him 54 hits on the season.
Hoyer finished 2-for-4 with two runs.
Sophomore
TOM BURKE (Edison, NJ/Immaculata) made his first collegiate start at pitcher, yet helped NJCU at the plate with his second homerun of the season, going 1-for-4 with three RBIs. Freshman left fielder
JOE STEINBERGER (San Diego, CA/San Diego) increased his team-leading RBI total to 29, going 1-for-5 with three RBIs. Senior rightfielder/catcher
KRISTOPHER BRUS (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) finished 2-for-5.
Rowan sophomore right-hander Ryan Peterson (Belle Mead, NJ/Montgomery) was the winning pitcher in the first contest. Peterson (1-1) tossed 3.1 innings in relief, allowing two runs. Sophomore lefty Michael Cox (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) threw a scoreless ninth inning for his first save of the year. Burke pitched a complete game for the Gothic Knights, allowing eight earned runs on 16 hits, with five strikeouts and two walks.
In the first inning for Rowan, McMullin and Mull each drove in two runs with a double and Parks added a two-run homer over the left field wall, his third of the year. The Profs added two runs in the second on McMullin's two-run homer. In the third, Barnshaw doubled in a run and scored on an error. McMullin recorded a two-RBI double.
NJCU fought back with seven runs in the top of the fifth to make the score, 12-7, as 11 men batted.
Hoyer got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded bringing in sophomore third baseman
JEFF KARCZEWSKI (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West), who had also been hit by a pitch, prior to a pair of singles by
Gonzalez and
Hoyer. It was 12-2 after an RBI single by
Brus, and
Steinberger knocked in two runs with a single, cutting the gap to 12-4.
Burke then slammed a three-run homer to left-center and the Knights were back in the game, 12-7.
In the ninth, NJCU still trailed by five and began to rally, as Fiorentino, Hoyer, and Brus all singled and Fiorentino scoring on a sac fly by Colon. An RBI ground ball by Steinberger cut it to 12-9 with one out. But Cox earned the save by forcing Burke to fly out, and after a single by Mena, Rowan threw out Brus at the plate to end the game.
*********GAME 2: NEW JERSEY CITY UNIVERSITY 9, ROWAN UNIVERSITY 8*********
In game two, Rowan led 7-4 after five innings before NJCU tallied a run in the sixth, and two in the seventh and eighth innings and junior closer
JOSEPH TARALLO (South Amboy, NJ/Hoffman) extended his single-season program record with seven saves by firing a scoreless ninth inning.
Colon was 3-for-4 with three RBIs, two homeruns and two runs scored while
Hoyer, who played right field in the game, banged out two doubles, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs.
Junior designated hitter/catcher ALEX MENA (North Bergen, NJ/Hudson Catholic) was 2-for-4 with two runs and his fourth homerun of the season as Mena, Colon and Steinberger now are tied for the team lead in round trippers. NJCU has now hit 18 homeruns as a team this year—sixth most in school history. Fiorentino had two hits in the win.
For Rowan, McMullin was 3-for-5 with two RBIs, two runs and a double while Mull hit his second homerun of the season, finishing 2-for-4 with three RBIs and one run. Ready had two hits with an RBI and run scored while junior second baseman Pete Delleani (Manalapan, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) chipped was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI.
Senior righty
STEVE HALLAM (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) earned his second win of the year to improve to 2-1. In 2.2 innings of relief, he allowed two runs and four hits. Sophomore righty
WESTLEY LOPEZ (West New York, NJ/Memorial) pitched a perfect eighth inning, leading to
Tarallo in the ninth.
Rowan senior righty Robert Rose (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) took the loss. Rose (3-1) threw 1.1 innings in relief, giving up four runs (two earned), allowing two hits.
NJCU led 3-0 after two runs in the second inning and one in the third.
Colon led off the second with a solo homer to right and junior center fielder
EDDIE GONZALO (Union City, NJ/Union Hill) followed with a RBI single to score
Mena who doubled.
Coloncrushed a two-out pitch to left center in the third inning for his second solo homerun.
Rowan tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth on Mull's three-run shot over the left field fence. The Knights added one run in the top of the fifth as Colonhit a single to right field, plating Hoyer, who doubled, and the Knights led 4-3. But the Profs went ahead 7-4 with four runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Ready and Delleani both hit RBI singles and McMullin doubled in a run before coming in on a ground out.
NJCU cut it to 7-5 in the sixth as Mena launched a homer to center field before the Knights tied the game with two runs in the seventh. Hoyer singled and Hallam, who had his first career at bat, reached on a fielder's choice, and both scored on an error.
Rowan went ahead 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh as Delleani doubled and McMullin drove him in with a single.
However, in the eighth, Gonzalez—who added his 55th hit of the year in the game—walked and Fiorentino singled. With one out, Hoyer ripped a two-run double to left center for a 9-8 margin and Lopez and Tarallo stopped the Profs in the eighth and ninth.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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Game 1: Sunday, April 19, 2009 | Glassboro, NJ (Rowan Baseball Complex)
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|
New Jersey City University (12-21-1, 2-11 NJAC)
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0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
9
|
15
|
4
|
|
Rowan University (19-9-1, 8-5 NJAC)
|
6
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
X
|
12
|
16
|
1
|
|
WP: Ryan Peterson (1-1). LP: TOM BURKE (0-1). SV: Michael Cox (1). HR: N-TOM BURKE (2); R- John McMullin (2), Sam Parks (3).
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Game 2: Sunday, April 19, 2009 | Glassboro, NJ (Rowan Baseball Complex)
|
|
New Jersey City University (13-21-1, 3-11 NJAC)
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0
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
9
|
13
|
3
|
|
Rowan University (19-10-1, 8-6 NJAC)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
12
|
2
|
|
WP: STEVE HALLAM (2-1). LP: Robert Rose (3-1). SV: JOSEPH TARALLO (7). HR: N-JOSE COLON 2 (4), ALEX MENA (4); R- Garrett Mull (2).
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