New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University and The College of New Jersey battled back and forth for more than three hours with eight ties or lead changes occurring before the Lions scored twice in the top of the eighth inning and held off two final comeback bids by NJCU to outlast the Gothic Knights, 10-8, in the opening game of a two-day home-and-home New Jersey Athletic Conference series at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
NJCU (12-19, 1-10 NJAC), trying to defeat TCNJ (19-13, 7-4 NJAC) for the first time since 1997, outhit the Lions, 19-12, but stranded 11 runners as the visitors downed the Knights for the 29^th consecutive meeting.
 
In defeat, freshman shortstop MICHAEL MARTUCCI (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep), junior left fielder ANDREW RIVERA (Edison, NJ/Edison) and junior catcher ORLANDO BOLANO (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken) each had four hits for NJCU.
 
Martucci was 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs and swiped his 15^th base of the season and Rivera batted 4-for-5 with two RBIs, including a two-run triple. Bolano was 4-for-5 with one run.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman right fielder MATTHEW WAGNER (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) knocked in two RBIs in a 2-for-5 showing and junior third baseman BRIAN BUSTILLO (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) had two steals and two runs scored. All eight position players who started for NJCU had at least one hit.
 
TCNJ got significant contributions from senior center fielder Ed Zakrzewski (Three Bridges, NJ/Hunterdon Central) who was 3-for-3 with four RBIs, three runs scored and two hits. Sophomore left fielder Joseph Dispoto (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored and junior right fielder Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) walked three times and scored twice while batting 2-for-2. In all, TCNJ received seven of its 12 hits from its three outfielders.
 
Also for the Lions, junior second baseman Scott Kelly (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-North) was 2-for-6 while senior first baseman James Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberly Academy) added two RBIs. In defeat, NJCU did do a good job of containing senior catcher Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy). He entered the game with a .543 batting average, 18 RBIs and 12 runs scored in six previous lifetime games against NJCU but was limited to one run and one RBI on one hit in four at bats.

Freshman right-hander Bentio Gonzalez (Trenton, NJ/Princeton) earned his first collegiate win in relief (1-1), allowing just two hits with two strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work and retired both inherited runners when entering the game. Senior right-handed closer Michael Ham (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) allowed two hits in the bottom of the ninth but got a key double play and earned his seventh save.
 
Sophomore Brendan Kelly (Butler, NJ/Butler) started and threw 6.0 innings, allowing seven runs (four earned) and 12 hits with five strikeouts and no walks. The Lions used four pitchers and none walked a batter.
 
In contrast, three NJCU pitchers walked a combined 10 batters and struck out just two. Freshman righty KEVIN DEMAURO (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) took the loss in relief (2-2), allowing three runs and three hits with a walk and strikeout in 1.1 innings before junior righty WENDELL RODRIGUEZ (Ponce, Puerto Rico/County Prep) scattered just one hit with one strikeout and one walk in the final 1.2 innings of relief.
 
Senior righty NELSON MALDONADO (Newark, NJ/St. Mary's (Jersey City)) received a no-decision but the No. 2 leader in strikeouts in NJCU history with 138, was wild, allowing seven runs and eight hits in 6.0 innings while walking a career-high eight batters without recording a strikeout. In 29 career starts it was the first time Maldonado had ever not recorded a strikeout and his previous high for walks was six.

In the back-and-forth affair, NJCU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Bustillo, junior designated hitter PETE SENYSZYN (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) and Martucci all had back-to-back-to-back singles with one out and the final single by Martucci drive in a run before the Knights left two men on.
 
TCNJ claimed a 4-1 lead in the second on five hits. After a pair of one-out singles, Zakrzewski tripled to left center, as the ball took a wild hop and rolled to the fence, to drive in two runs for a 2-1 edge. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Dispoto before an infield single by Ruzich with the bases loaded pushed the fourth run home before Scott Kelly was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
 
NJCU blew a golden opportunity in the second inning. Rivera and Roman both singled before advancing into scoring position on a wild pitch and junior center fielder MICHAEL PATTERSON (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. But NJCU was unable to get a bunt down on a squeeze play and Roman was tagged out as he and Rivera ended up on the same base. A groundout ended the inning.
 
NJCU got two runs back in the bottom of the third to make it a one-run game. After a sliding catch in left field by Dispoto robbed an extra base hit from Senyszyn and an eventual run, Martucci singled and freshman first baseman ALEX WEINSTEIN (Colonia, NJ/JFK-Iselin) was hit by a pitch. Both scored when Rivera ripped a two-out 1-1 pitch off the right field fence for two runs and his third triple of the season before being stranded at third. Had Senyszyn's line drive not been caught and Rivera's fly ball been a few feet higher, the game would have had a much different tone, and the triple would have been a grand slam.
 
Maldonado held TCNJ in check in the fourth and fifth innings, retiring the Lions in order in the fourth and just one base runner in the fifth. That allowed NJCU to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth as Martucci singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Wagner.
 
TCNJ immediately answered with three runs in the top of the sixth. Zakrzewski walked before being sacrificed to second and scored on an RBI double to left by Dispoto. Scott Kelly singled and stole second and the Lions had two runners in scoring position. Back-to-back walks, the second by Ruzich, pushed the sixth run across before Galeotafiore drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Now leading 7-4, TCNJ left the bases loaded.
 
However NJCU responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game again. A bloop single by Bolano and a single by Patterson put two men. Scott Kelly, trying to turn a double play, missed a ground ball off Bustillo's bat for an error and Bolano scored. Bustillo stole second to put two runners in scoring position. Senyszyn reached on a throwing error—the second error of the inning and one of four committed by the usually sure-handed Lions—and Patterson scored an unearned run before a sacrifice fly from Martucci knocked in Bustillo with the tying run.
 
For the third time in the game, TCNJ responded, taking the lead in the top of the seventh as Zakrzewski led off with a single before scoring on a double down the right field line by Dispoto for an 8-7 margin. But NJCU would answer right back, tying the game for a third time. Weinstein led off the bottom of the seventh, dumping the first pitch he saw in the air down the left field line—with the ball landing on the chalk for a double, and Wagner singled to tie the game. Rivera singled before Roman hit into a double play to erase the lead runners at second and third. Bolano added the fourth hit of the inning and stole second as Roman advanced to third but Gonzalez induced a fly ball to end the threat.
 
The fourth time was the charm for TCNJ as the Lions scored twice in the eighth to regain the lead for good. Galeotafiore singled, Murphy walked and both scored on a two-out double to right by Zakrzewski for the 10-8 margin.
 
NJCU had its chances to tie. In the bottom of the eighth, Bustillo reached again on a throwing error and stole second with one out. Martucci followed with his fourth single of the game, and advanced to second on a throwing error. But with the tying runs at second and third, Gonzalez struck out Weinstein and got Wagner to pop up.
 
In the ninth, Rivera led off with a single off of Ham, before Roman hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Bolano singled to keep the Knights alive before a Patterson groundout ended the game
 
NJCU and TCNJ play the back end of their two-day series on Friday, April 20 at 3:30 p.m. in Ewing, NJ.

Thursday, April 19, 2012 | Jersey City, NJ
The College of New Jersey (19-13, 7-4 NJAC)	0	4	0	0	0	3	1	2	0	10	12	4
New Jersey City University (12-19, 1-10 NJAC)	1	0	2	0	1	3	1	0	0	8	19	0
WP: Benito Gonzalez (1-1). LP: KEVIN DEMAURO (2-2). SV: Michael Ham (7).