New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University committed four errors in the first three innings of the game and Richard Stockton College took advantage, jumping out to a 4-0 lead before it defeated NJCU, 7-3, in a sloppy defensive New Jersey Athletic Conference baseball contest played on April 15 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.

Stockton (17-13, 5-5 NJAC) evens its NJAC record at 5-5 while NJCU falls to .500 on the year (14-14, 3-7 NJAC). Stockton moved into a three-way tie with Rowan University and The College of New Jersey with 10 points with the win in a make-up game of a rainout from Friday, April 12. Both schools committed five errors in the game.
 
Stockton junior right-hander Brendan Stout (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) moved into a tie for most victories in the league, improving to 5-2. In 7.0 innings, he allowed one earned run (two total) and eight hits, with one walk (no strikeouts) over 111 pitches. Junior righty Brandon Trainor (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) allowed one unearned run and one hit in the final two innings, also with one walk and no strikeouts.
 
Remarkably in defeat, no Gothic Knight batters struck out for the first time since April  19, 2002 at John Jay College (10-8 win)—a span of 407 games.
 
In defeat, sophomore DELIO COUTINHO (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), the team's closer who is filling in at first base after an injury last week to ALEX WEINSTEIN (Colonia, NJ/JFK-Iselin), continues to surprise. After going 0-for-7 in his first career plate appearance, Coutinho is now batting seven for his last 11 after hitting 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
 
Sophomore right fielder MATTHEW WAGNER (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and one double, sophomore third baseman MICHAEL MARTUCCI (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) scored twice and had a pair of walks (1-for-2) and junior designated hitter MATT MATLOSZ (Clark, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) batted 2-for-4.
 
For Stockton, senior designated hitter Shawn Kessler (Bayville, NJ/Central Regional) hit his third homerun of the season and scored twice in a 1-for-3 effort, tallying one RBI and a pair of walks. He extended his on-base streak to 19 games. Senior left fielder Barry Larro (Cedarville, NJ/Cumberland) was 2-for-4 with one run, sophomore first baseman Brett Solomen (Harrison Township, NJ/Clearview) went 2-for-5 with one run and sophomore shortstop Mark Jankowski (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) was 2-for-5 with a run and RBI.
 
Also for the Ospreys, junior center fielder Mike Bush (Manahawkin, NJ/Southern Regional) scored twice, and walked once to extend his on-base streak to 16 games. Sophomore right fielder George Eisenhart (Harrison Township, NJ/Clearview) had his 11-game hitting streak snapped.
 
Rookie righty TOMMY TRELA (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) suffered the loss (1-4). In four and two-third innings, he allowed three earned runs (six total) and nine hits, with one strikeout and three walks.
 
NJCU did receive a pair of brilliant relief appearances. Rookie righty NICK DEMARCO (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) threw 3.1 innings of one-hit baseball, allowing one unearned run over 30 pitches. Senior lefty PEDRO GARCIA (North Bergen, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
 
Each team left nine runners on base in the game and Trela was able to strand the bases loaded in the first inning after his defense committed two errors, but not before Stockton scored its first run on a fielding error, with just one hit in the inning. In the second frame, NJCU committed another error but Trela again worked out of trouble and stranded two runners.
 
In the third, Stockton tacked on two more runs to build a 3-0 advantage on an  RBI single by Jankowski and a RBI double by junior third baseman Travis Marra (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East). Both runs in the inning were unearned after a one-out throwing error.
 
Stockton increased its lead to 4-0 in the fourth when Larro doubled with two outs and scored when Solomen followed with another two-base hit. NJCU got on the board in the bottom of the inning when senior left fielder ANDREW RIVERA (Edison, NJ/Edison) singled with one out—the 122^nd of his career to move into 16^th place in school history and Martucci singled. Rivera was thrown out on a double steal but with two outs, Coutinho singled to left center to knock in Martucci, before two runners were stranded.
 
But Stockton added two more runs in the top of the fifth to begin pulling away, seizing a 6-1 cushion. Kessler led off with a solo homer on a 2-2 pitch that cleared the fence in left-center. Jankowski then singled, stole second, and scored on an RBI single by junior second baseman Luke Root (Estell Manor, NJ/Buena).
 
NJCU added a run in the sixth inning on an RBI double to right by Wagner with two outs. The Knights also scored in the eighth when Wagner grounded out to push across the third run. NJCU stranded two runners on base in the fifth inning and at least one runner in each of the final seven innings of the contest. Stockton added its final run in the eighth on a throwing error.
 
NJCU is back in action on Tuesday, April 16 at 4 p.m. when it faces Baruch College in a non-conference game at Bronx Community College in the Bronx, NY.