New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score OLD WESTBURY, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University rookie left-hander KRIS FELLIN (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) had a magnificent performance, blanking SUNY Old Westbury for eight innings to make three early runs stand up as the Gothic Knights opened the northern portion of its 2014 schedule with a 3-0 shutout victory over OW on March 20 at the Jackie Robinson Athletic Complex.
 
NJCU (2-8) snapped a six-game losing streak, sending the Panthers (3-12) to defeat in their home opener. NJCU played flawless defense in front of Fellin and scored twice in the first inning and once more in the second for all the offense it would need.
 
Fellin claimed his first collegiate win (1-2) as he scattered just five singles in 8.0 innings of work, striking out five versus five walks over 117 pitches while picking off three runners in the decision. He allowed just three hits through the first six innings and struck out the side in the second inning on a combined 14 pitches, including back-to-back batters swinging.
 
Junior right-hander KEVIN DEMAURO (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) entered the game with no outs and a man on in the ninth before earning a nine-pitch, three-out save—his second of the season—including an important double play.
 
"We have a lot of respect for the Old Westbury program," praised third-year head coach Jerry Smith. "They came in at 3-11 but when you dig deeper, they played two games versus [No. 3] Southern Maine [2013 national runner-up] and two games versus Ithaca [2013 national semifinalist]. They challenge themselves early and we knew we were in for a good program. We did our research and felt Fellin was the right guy to go and he did a good job. He got in front of batters and he controlled their running game which is a big part of what Old Westbury does. They had five steals but we had three pickoffs and two caught stealing mixed in."
 
"There are some things you can teach as a coach but for him [Fellin] to be that poised and that competitive at that age is good to see. He went pitch-for-pitch, kept competing and stayed under control and poised. It was also our best defensive effort to date. The outfield did a good job getting reads on balls and the infield played well."
 
Offensively, freshman left fielder ERIC GIORDANO (Metuchen, NJ/JFK-Iselin) was NJCU's lone player with multiple hits, batting 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior center fielder MATTHEW WAGNER (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) was 1-for-4 with a double and run scored.
 
OW senior righty Braylin Perez pitched well in defeat (0-2), allowing three runs (one earned) and six hits in 7.0 innings over 102 pitches. He struck out four and walked two before being relieved by senior righty Frank DiMaria who threw a perfect two innings in the eighth and ninth. Senior first baseman Kevin Licul was the only Panther with multiple hits, batting 2-for-4.
 
NJCU scored twice in the top of the first and added to its lead with a single run in the second frame. In the first, junior designated hitter PAT SHELDRICK (Ocean Gate, NJ/Central Regional) singled with two outs and the bases empty before sophomore catcher ANDREW NIECH (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) reached on an error to extend the inning and  freshman first baseman DAN BERARDI (Bridgewater, NJ/Middlesex) walked to load the bags. Giordano singled to left to drive in Sheldrick before Niech raced home on the second error of the inning when the ball was misplayed in the outfield.
 
In the second, Wagner led off with a double down the right field line, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI groundout to first by junior shortstop NICHOLAS D'ERRICO (Kearny, NJ/Kearny), for a 3-0 lead.
 
OW's best scoring chance came in the third when freshman second baseman Tommy Ziegen walked with one out and stole second and third. With two outs, junior left fielder Nick Yip walked and stole second before Fellin picked him off to end the threat.
 
In the fourth, OW threatened again. With one out, Licul and senior designated hitter Byron White had consecutive one-out infield singles and stole second and third before Fellin repeated his third-inning trickery, picking White off second base to end the frame.
 
NJCU had just one hit offensively in the final three innings but didn't need to score again because its pitching and defense shut down the Panthers. A double play ended the eighth inning. In the ninth, Yip led off with a walk before DeMauro entered and coaxed a 5-4-3 double play and a lineout to right to seal the win.
 
Smith, speaking about the offense, said: "We came into the game 0-for-9 with the bases loaded and had been outscored something like 28-7 on two-out hits. Today we came away with two runs with two outs in the first inning and while I wish we did a better job extending leads, at least today we extended it from two to three [runs] in that very next inning."
 
NJCU heads to Chestertown, Maryland on Saturday, March 22 for a 1 p.m. non-conference game against Washington College (Md.).

Thursday, March 20, 2014 | Old Westbury, NY
New Jersey City University (2-8)	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	0
SUNY Old Westbury (3-12)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	3
WP: KRIS FELLIN (1-2). LP: Braylin Perez (0-2). SV: KEVIN DEMAURO (2).