New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BOX SCORES: Game 1 | Game 2
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES
ALL-TIME WINS OVER #1 TEAMS, NCAA HISTORY
POST-GAME INTERVIEW

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | April 13, 2013 will go down as a historic day in New Jersey City University athletics, after the Gothic Knight baseball team became the first program in the history of the institution to knock off a #1 ranked opponent in Division III athletics. Senior ace and right-hander WENDELL RODRIGUEZ (Ponce, Puerto Rico/County Prep) shutout the Kean University baseball team for the final eight innings and sophomore third baseman MICHAEL MARTUCCI (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) drove in three runs as NJCU delivered a stunning upset heard around the Division III baseball world, knocking off the three-time defending New Jersey Athletic Conference champions, 5-1, at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. The Cougars claimed the second game of the doubleheader, 10-1.
 
Kean (23-6, 7-2 NJAC), ranked #1 this week by D3baseball.com and #2 by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), had won the last 19 meetings against NJCU (14-13, 3-6 NJAC) since the Knights last defeated the Cougars 11 years ago—an 8-1 decision in Union, NJ on March 29, 2002.
 
In the history of NJCU athletics, the win is one for the record books. Prior to the victory, the highest ranked Division III team known to have been knocked off came on March 14, 1992 when the men's basketball team defeated then #2 ranked Salisbury State College, 97-83 in Salisbury, MD in the NCAA Tournament Elite 8 to punch a ticket to the Final Four.
 
The only other team to defeat No. 1 ranked opponents is the NJCU women's bowling team—itself nationally ranked in every poll ever conducted. In that national collegiate sport that combines Division I, II and III schools, the Knights have defeated a No. 1 ranked team on 11 known occasions—all Division I opponents—most recently three times during the 2010-11 season against #1 ranked Fairleigh Dickinson University.

NJCU has had several near upsets of the Cougars in recent years, losing 8-7 at home on April 13, 2012 and on April 14, 2011, Rodriguez tossed a four-hit complete game gem in Union, but lost to Kean, 1-0. NJCU also fell by one run on April 3, 2010 (8-7).
 
Senior second baseman PETE SENYSZYN (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) reached base in eight of nine plate appearances in the doubleheader for NJCU, batting a combined 4-for-5 with three walks and one hit by pitch.

“It validates the hard work that the boys have put it to lead up to this,” said second year head coach Jerry Smith. “This game wasn't won today. It was won on the practice field and all the hard work leading up to it. The boys played flawless defense, we had good pitching and when you do those little things in baseball good things happen.”
 
“It seems like 9-9 [record] you have a good chance of making the NJAC playoffs and that's our goal. Right now we've been splitting with everybody. We do have a game to make up [in the standings] since TCNJ was able to get two from us, so we're fighting an uphill battle, but as long as we keep getting these splits, we'll put ourselves in a good situation.”

In the game two victory, Kean head coach Neil Ioviero captured his 500^th career win—all at the Union, NJ school since taking the helm in 1998.
   Rodriguez extended his own school record for career victories to 14 with the win (14-14) and improved to 4-2 on the season while firing his 11^th career complete game and his third this year in nine starts. In similar fashion to his win over Rutgers University-Camden on April 4—a game in which he allowed two first-inning runs then shutout the Raptors for the final eight innings—Wen Rod did it again—slamming the door on the Cougars for the final eight frames.
 
Over 130 pitches, Rodriguez allowed 10 hits—including eight singles—but just one run, striking out two and walking one. Only one batter reached third in the entire game and none after the first innings.
 
“I just kept them off balance the whole game and throughout the game they never really made an adjustment,” Rodriguez noted. “Them being number one, this is just really a sweet victory for us. I always come in with the same mentality of getting outs and getting the job done. Even the last time I lost to them it was a good, close game, 1-0.”
 
Martucci was 3-for-4 with three RBIs—a two-run single in NJCU's four-run third inning and an insurance RBI single in the fifth inning.

Senyszyn batted 3-for-3 with two runs, one RBI and a walk and sophomore DELIO COUTINHO (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), making just his second and third career starts at first base, was 1-for-3 with an RBI single in the opening game.
 
NJCU and Kean each finished with 10 hits apiece and the Cougars were led by junior second baseman Tyler Smarslok (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) who was 3-for-4 with one run.  Senior shortstop Nick Ramagli (Emerson, NJ/Emerson) was 2-for-4 with two doubles and the lone Kean RBI and sophomore designated hitter Anthony Fischetti (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) batted 2-for-4. Junior center fielder Shane Alvarez (Franklin, NJ/St. Joseph's, Metuchen) was 2-for-5.
 
Senior righty Sam Fourre (Scotch Plains, NJ/St. Joseph's, Metuchen) started and took the loss (4-2), allowing five runs and nine hits in 4.2 innings, with three strikeouts versus one walk. Freshman righty Vinny Zanfordino (Edison, NJ/Edison) limited NJCU to one hit in 3.1 innings of relief, allowing two walks against two K's.
 
Kean scored its lone run in the top of the first as Smarslok singled with one out and scored on an RBI double down the left field line by Ramagli. Kean had another chance in the third inning but Ramagli lined into an inning-ending double play to left field.
 
NJCU only left four men on base all game and capitalized on its opportunities, beginning in the four-run third inning when nine players batted and amassed five hits. Junior designated hitter ROB ROMAN (Hoboken, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) walked and sophomore shortstop NICHOLAS D'ERRICO (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) dropped down a bunt to the pitcher with one out before senior center fielder MICHAEL PATTERSON (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) singled through the left side to load the bases.
 
Senyszyn followed with an RBI single to right field to tie the game. With two outs, Martucci battled with Fourre for nine pitches before lining a two-run single to center and put NJCU ahead, 3-1. Facing a 0-2 count Coutinho delivered an RBI single to center to knock in Senyszyn for a 4-1 advantage.
 
In the fourth, junior catcher MIKE CASIANO (Newark, NJ/North 13^th Street) threw out a runner stealing at third. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Senyszyn dropped down another bunt up the third base line and beat it out for a single, stole second and scored on a two-out RBI single to right center by Martucci.
 
Rodriguez set down Kean in order in the sixth, avoided trouble in the seventh when Kean had a pair of hits, and stranded Ramagli at second in the eighth after a one-out double. In the ninth, Kean had two fly ball outs and a liner to short sealed the biggest upset in men's sports in NJCU history.
 
With the win, NJCU exceeded its win total from the 2013 with 13 games remaining in the regular season. In the nightcap, the Cougars took advantage of six NJCU errors and Ioviero, the winningest coach in any sport in Kean history, reached the milestone 500^th win.
 
Sophomore left-hander Dan Hansen (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) won his third game of the year (3-1), allowing five hits in seven shutout innings, walked four with two K's over 101 pitches. Freshman righty Andrew Torres (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) allowed one run and three hits in 2.0 innings, striking out three (two walks).
 
Alvarez batted 3-for-3 and reached based six times while drawing three walks and scoring three times. Junior left fielder Joe O'Connor (Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) launched a two-run homerun in the four-run fifth inning to break the game open and finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs. Smarslok scored twice.
 
No Gothic Knight had multiple hits but Senyszyn and Coutinho were each 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. NJCU scored its lone run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a bases-loaded RBI single to left by pinch-hitter/catcher JAMES GARDNER (Hoboken, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep), as the Knights extended their streak to 30 consecutive games without being shutout.
 
Freshman righty JOMAR CASIANO (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) entered the day at 3-0 and pitched well but suffered his first career loss. In 5.0 innings he allowed just two earned runs (six total) and four hits, striking out four versus two walks over 82 pitches. The Knights used four pitchers. Rookie NICK DEMARCO (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) was the best reliever; in one inning he faced four batters, allowing one hit over six pitches.
 
Two NJCU errors aided the Cougars in the top of the first. Alvarez led off with a walk and scored on a fielding error before Smarslok, who singled, later came around on a dropped throw at first base that should have ended the inning.
 
In the fifth, the Knights committed four more errors, and the Cougars capitalized again with four runs over three hits. After a one-out error, Alvarez singled and Smarslok reached on a fielder's choice. The pair executed a double steal of second and third and Alvarez scored when the throw to third caromed wide of the bag. Another throwing error pushed home Smarslok for a 4-0 lead. In an inning that should have already ended, O'Connor uncorked a 1-1 pitch over the right center wall for a 6-0 edge and his first homer of the year.
 
Kean added two more runs in the sixth on a two-run single by Ramagli before the Cougars tacked on two runs on three hits in the ninth on an RBI double by freshman Sal Taormina (Brooklyn, NY) and a pinch-hit RBI single by freshman Aaron MacKenzie (Delran, NJ/Delran).
 
NJCU returns to the diamond on Monday, April 15 at 3:30 p.m. when it makes up yesterday's rainout of a home game against Richard Stockton College.

KNOWN WINS OVER #1 RANKED TEAMS, NJCU HISTORY
SPORT	DATE	OPPONENT	SITE	SCORE	POLL
Baseball	4/13/2013	Kean University	Jersey City, NJ	5-1	D3baseball.com Top 25
Women's Bowling	3/6/2011	Fairleigh Dickinson University	Howell, NJ	955-902	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	11/21/2010	Fairleigh Dickinson University	Millsboro, DE	4-1 *	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	11/14/2010	Fairleigh Dickinson University	Reading, PA	1046-969	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	1/30/2010	Vanderbilt University	Reading, PA	1001-902	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	3/14/2009	Vanderbilt University	Smyrna, TN	780-705	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	11/1/2008	U. of Maryland Eastern Shore	Elmwood Park, NJ	980-963	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	12/29/2006	Fairleigh Dickinson University	Glassboro, NJ	3-2 **	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	10/28/2006	Fairleigh Dickinson University	Wallington, NJ	1118-1071	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	3/5/2006	University of Nebraska	Bessemer, AL	1112-1085 ***	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	2/27/2005	University of Nebraska	Perry Hall, MD	563-535	NTCA Coaches Top 20
Women's Bowling	1/18/2004	University of Nebraska	Baton Rouge, LA	614-598	NTCA Coaches Top 20
* best 4-of-7 Baker series
** best 3-of-5 Baker series
*** NJCU became the first program in NCAA women's collegiate bowling history to defeat the No. 1, 2, and 3 ranked teams in the nation in the same weekend
Note: Full results not available for 2005-06 and 2006-07 season

 

 

Game 1: Saturday, April 13, 2013 | Jersey City, NJ
#1/2 Kean University (22-6, 6-2 NJAC)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	10	0
New Jersey City University (14-12, 3-5 NJAC)	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	X	5	10	1
WP: WENDELL RODRIGUEZ (4-2). LP: Sam Fourre (4-2).

 

Game 2: Saturday, April 13, 2013 | Jersey City, NJ
#1/2 Kean University (23-6, 7-2 NJAC)	2	0	0	0	4	2	0	0	2	10	10	1
New Jersey City University (14-13, 3-6 NJAC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	8	6
LP: Dan Hansen (3-1). LP: JOMAR CASIANO (3-1).  HR: K-Joe O'Connor (1).