New Jersey City University Athletics

BOX SCORE

AUGUSTA, NJ…The sun set on the 2009 baseball season…literally. New Jersey City University could not make a 9-0 lead hold up, but showed the resilient offense that has carried it all season long as the Gothic Knights scored three times in the top of the ninth inning and forced a darkness-induced 18-18 tie with Centenary College, in a non-conference season finale played on Monday at Skylands Park.

 

NJCU led 9-0, 11-4 and 15-6, before the Cyclones scored eight times in the seventh to cut the deficit to one, then grabbed an 18-15 lead with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The game was finally called due to darkness following the completion of the ninth inning—more than 3:46 after it began.

 

NJCU concludes the 2009 season with a mark of 14-24-2 while Centenary is 13-18-1. NJCU leads the all-time series, 2-0-1 and it was the first meeting between the clubs since April 15, 2003.

 

It was the 14^th tie in the 62-year history of the NJCU baseball program and the second of the 2009 season—marking the first season with multiple ties since the Knights finished the 1995 campaign at 19-15-3. NJCU had been 0-18 all season when trailing after eight innings, before rallying in the ninth for the tie.

 

The Cyclones outhit NJCU, 21-19 in the 40-hit battle. NJCU tallied a single-game record eight doubles in the contest as rookie second baseman ROB GONZALEZ (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial), senior center fielder MARK HOYER (Irvine, CA/Woodbridge (CA), senior first baseman JOSE COLON (Brooklyn, NJ/LaSalle Academy (NY)) and freshman right fielder JOE STEINBERGER (San Diego, CA/San Diego) each collected two doubles apiece.

Six NJCU players had multiple hits and five had three hits, led by Steinberger who drove in four RBIs with a 3-for-5 effort, two doubles and one run. He finished the year with a team-high 36 RBIs—tied for eighth most in school history.

 

Senior designated hitter DAVID FLEISCHMAN (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) only had one hit all season in limited action before ending his career in style, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs. Colon scored four times, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs, walking once.

 

Gonzalez went 3-for-6 with two runs, two doubles, one RBI and his 20^th steal of the year. While obliterating the previous school record for at bats in a year (175, previous mark was 156), he finished the season with 62 hits, becoming only the second player in school history with 60 hits in one season. Gonzalez also finished his rookie campaign with 45 runs scored—one shy of the single-season mark of 46 by Rob Sumner in 2005 and tied for the second most in team history.

 

Hoyer was 3-for-6 with three RBIs and two runs and his two doubles gives him 14 on the year, making him only the eighth player in school history with 14 or more doubles in a season. He finished the year with 157 at bats—the second most in single-season history—and 31 RBIs.

 

Also for NJCU, sophomore shortstop TOM BURKE (Edison, NJ/Immaculata) went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, including his 30^th of the year.Senior catcher KRISTOPHER BRUS (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) scored twice. Sophomore third baseman MICHAEL FIORENTINO (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Point Pleasant) was 1-for-5 with one run and one RBI.

 

Gonzalez and Fiorentino combined for a school-record 117 hits between them for the season, breaking the 14-year-old mark of 114 hits in 1995 by Carmine Turso (58) and BJ Fearson (56).

 

Brus, Burke, Gonzalez, junior leftfielder

23.jpg" />remembered as perhaps the top offensive season statistically NJCU has ever had.

 

Centenary was led by freshman left fielder Jordan Wright (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin East) who drove in five runs and was 3-for-6 with two runs and a double. Freshman shortstop CHRIS SMITH (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills Regional) went 4-for-5 with two runs and one RBI. Junior first baseman Michael Fasano (Hawthorne, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) was 3-for-6 with three RBIs, two doubles and two runs.

 

Also for the Cyclones, junior second baseman Sal Prestigiacomo (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) scored four times and was 1-for-3 with two RBIs, two walks and a triple. Freshman right fielder Randy Castillo (West New York, NJ/Memorial) finished 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs while freshman catcher Anthony DeSomma (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) finished 3-for-5. Sophomore designated hitter Jose Cordova (Brentwood, NJ/Brentwood) was the sixth Centenary player with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-6 with two RBIs.

 

NJCU sophomore right-handed pitcher

10.jpg" />fifth Gothic Knight to throw in the game and his 13-pitch ninth-inning effort, retiring the Cyclones 1-2-3, ended the game and essentially saved the tie. Senior righty #STEVE HALLAM# (Harrison, NJ/Harrison) extended his own single-season record by making his 22^nd pitching appearance of the year. Centenary used four pitchers in the game.

 

In the first inning, Gonzalez doubled, stole third and scored on an RBI single by Fiorentino, before scoring on an RBI double by Colon. It became 4-0 when Steinberger had a two-run double to bring in Colon, and Brus, who had reached on an error. NJCU added a run in the second inning when Fleischman was hit by a pitch and scored on an error.

 

In the third, the Knights extended the lead to 9-0 as Burke had an RBI single to score Colon, who led off with a single. Fleischman followed with a two-run single to right, scoring Burke and Steinberger, who had reached on an error. Hoyer made it 9-0 with an RBI single.

 

Centenary drew within 9-4 in the bottom of the third on an RBI groundout by Wright, and RBI singles by Smith, Cordova and DeSomma. NJCU tacked on two more runs in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by Fleischman and an RBI double by Gonzalez, for an 11-4 advantage. The Cyclones cut it to 11-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI triple by sophomore centerfielder Lou Penna (East Haven, CT/Notre Dame) and a groundout by Castillo.

 

But the two teams combined to score 19 runs between them in the final three innings. NJCU added what appeared to be four insurance runs in the top of the seventh for a 15-6 lead. Hoyer had a two-run double to score Fleischman and Gonzalez, who both singled. Colon knocked in Hoyer with an RBI double before he came in on an RBI single by Steinberger.

 

However, Centenary sent 12 batters to the plate, scoring eight times on eight hits in the bottom of the seventh, and trimmed the deficit to 15-14. Fasano had an RBI double and Cordova drove in a run with a single before Prestigiacomo knocked in two runs with a triple, and it was 15-10. Castillo and Wright had RBI singles and Fasano made it 15-14 with a one-out, two-run single to center.

 

After NJCU went in order in the eight, Centenary completed its comeback with four runs on three hits, aided by NJCU's only error of the game, in the bottom of the eighth. DeSomma singled while Prestigiacomo and Penna walked. Wright put Centenary ahead with a bases-loaded, three-run double down the left field line and scored on an error for the 18^th run.

 

Trailing 18-15 heading to the ninth, NJCU made its latest comeback in a game all year to prevent a loss. Hoyer doubled, Brus and Colon walked to load the bags and Steinberger lifted a sacrifice fly to center for an RBI. Brus came home on a wild pitch and Colon advanced to second before Burke ripped a 3-1 pitch into center field, scoring Colon with the game-tying run with only one out. Burke was stranded on second base as the Knights couldn't gain the lead, before Karczewski retired the Cyclones in the home ninth as darkness rolled in.