New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score AUBURNDALE, FL (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University junior left-hander DELIO COUTINHO (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) equaled a modern-day program record with 14 strikeouts and allowed just one earned run but received no run support as the Gothic Knights dropped a 4-0 decision to Rockford University at Lake Myrtle Park.
 
Coutinho struck out 14 Regent batters, walked five and allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits over 139 pitches in 8.0 innings to suffer an incredibly hard-luck loss (1-1). He faced 34 batters and struck out an equal number of batters swinging (seven) and looking (seven).
 
His 14 strikeouts are the most since Baldwin Vargas fanned 14 in seven innings in a 15-2 win over Rutgers-Camden on April 26, 2008. Coutinho's and Vargas' 14 strikeouts are the most on record for an NJCU pitcher since Harry Durkee struck out 17 for then Jersey City State Teacher's College in 1949.
 
Meanwhile, reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week, MICHAEL MARTUCCI (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep), who began the game in center field, came on in relief as the third NJCU pitcher and retired three of the four batters he faced in the ninth (one hit), striking out one batter looking. That K gave NJCU 15 as a team—the most as a team since at least the 2000 season.
 
NJCU (1-6) fell to 1-4 on its 2014 spring trip, dropping its fourth consecutive game while being shutout for the second time (2-0, Pitt-Greensburg, March 9).
 
Rockford (6-3), which later in the day knocked off fellow New Jersey Athletic Conference foe The College of New Jersey (9-8), got a shutout pitching performance from senior right-hander Kaleb Rich, who allowed five hits in 7.0 innings, striking out seven while walking three over 118 pitches.
 
"This was one of the best pitching performances I've seen since I've been here—if not the best," third-year head coach Jerry Smith said, praising the performance of Coutinho. "I just felt like he was in command, working at his pace, his tempo, and in control of a lot of things today. Because he was moving at a good pace and tempo, his confidence was like 'anytime he needed a strikeout he could get one' and it never wavered the entire game. He was in attack mode. He wasn't trying to be too fine. That's what I like to see—him trusting himself and going after guys. His confidence was at an all-time high."
 
Freshman designated hitter/first baseman DAN BERARDI (Bridgewater, NJ/Middlesex) was NJCU's lone batter with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Sophomore catcher ANDREW NIECH (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) and freshman left fielder ERIC GIORDANO (Metuchen, NJ/JFK-Iselin) each doubled.
 
The Regents only collected seven hits against three pitchers. Senior second baseman Chris Senn was 2-for-5 with one RBI. Senior lefty Zack Liberatore struck out both batters he faced in an 11-pitch relief stint and senior righty Kyle Pisano struck out one Gothic Knight against one hit in the ninth inning.
 
Coutinho, the last Gothic Knight pitcher to reach double figures in strikeouts when he had 10 on March 11, 2012 vs. McDaniel College, struck out two batters in six of eight innings—the top of the first, second, fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth—with single whiffs in the third and sixth.
 
Rockford got the only run it would need with two outs in the third. Senior left fielder Matt Grimes, who walked twice, worked out a base on balls and scored on a triple to left center on a 1-2 pitch by sophomore third baseman Cole Logemann.
 
NJCU's best chance at tying it came in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Niech doubled, Berardi was intentionally walked and junior PAT SHELDRICK (Ocean Gate, NJ/Central Regional) had a pinch hit infield single to load the bases. Freshman left fielder Giordano had a well-hit ball to the glove side of second base before Senn made a diving stop to end the inning.
 
Rockford quickly responded in the seventh with an insurance run. Senior designated hitter Kyle LaMore reached on an error, senior center fielder Jacob Gorsuch walked, and the tandem executed a double steal of second and third. When the errant throw got past third base, LaMore, the lead runner, scored. Coutinho retired the next two batters with a groundout and strikeout looking. As Coutinho's pitch count climbed in the eighth and he grew tired, the Regents loaded the bases, before he struck out Gorsuch, the final batter he faced, swinging, to end the threat and leave the bases full.
 
Freshman MARK PETRUCELLI (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Queen of Peace) was charged with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth after giving up a single and hit by pitch to the two batters he faced. Martucci came on and had a wild pitch that pushed the third run across before an RBI single by Senn extended it to 4-0. NJCU couldn't rally in the ninth.
 
"It's something we need to figure out," Smith said of the offensive issues with NJCU batting .220 as a team through seven games. "We had opportunities—a leadoff man in four of nine innings which is our style of play and one stat we keep track of. Throughout this whole trip we've had guys in scoring position but just cannot get a two-out hit. We have had quality at bats and just can't get the big hit. Giordano with the bases loaded today is the perfect example. If that second baseman doesn't make the diving play it changes the whole complexion of the game. They scored the next half inning and got the momentum. That's coming off three diving play against us by RPI the previous game [March 11]. I guess it's the beauty of the game."
 
NJCU concludes its spring trip with a pair of games in Winter Haven, Fla. on March 14. NJCU faces Waynesburg University (2-8, lost 5) at 10 a.m. and Bowdoin College (4-0) at 1 p.m.

Thursday, March 13, 2014 | Auburndale, Fla.
Rockford University (6-3)	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	4	7	2
New Jersey City University (1-6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3
WP: Kaleb Rich (1-0). LP: DELIO COUTINHO (1-1).

 

10+ STRIKEOUTS BY NJCU PITCHING (since 2000)
K's	PITCHER	DATE	OPPONENT	SITE	IP	WALKS	TEAM K'S	GAME RESULT
14	DELIO COUTINHO	03/13/2014	vs. Rockford	Auburndale, FL	8.0	5	15	L, 0-4
14	Baldwin Vargas	04/26/2008	Rutgers-Camden	Jersey City, NJ	7.0	3	14	W, 15-2
13	Westley Lopez	03/21/2010	vs. St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) 1	Jersey City, NJ	7.0	1	13	W, 3-0
12	Milton Rodriguez	03/12/2007	vs. Scranton	Fort Myers, FL	9.0	3	12	W, 8-2
11	Baldwin Vargas	03/25/2007	at Staten Island  1	Staten Island, NY	7.0	4	11	L, 1-2
11	Pete Amadeo	04/23/2001	at Stevens	Hoboken, NJ	10.0	4	13	W, 10-7 (12)
10	DELIO COUTINHO	03/11/2012	vs. McDaniel	Winter Haven, FL	7.1	3	11	L, 1-7
10	Westley Lopez	03/18/2008	vs. Baruch	Jersey City, NJ	6.0	3	12	W, 14-3
Note: The most strikeouts on record are 17 by Harry Durkee against Jersey City Junior College in 1949.   1 7-inning game