New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score 100-Hit Club: List | Analysis

WINTER HAVEN, FL (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior center fielder MICHAEL MARTUCCI (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) became the 36^th member of the New Jersey City University 100-hit club and freshman left-hander KRIS FELLIN (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) pitched well in his NCAA debut but didn't get run support as the Gothic Knights dropped another close game, losing 2-0 to University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg on March 9 on the second game of the 2014 spring trip.
 
All four of NJCU's games have been decided by two or fewer runs and the run differential on the season is now -4 as the Knights dropped to 1-3. Pitt-Greensburg improved to 2-4. It was the 36^th game decided by two or less runs in the last 81 played by the program. In a cleanly-played game, neither side committed an error.
 
"The amount of strides Mike [Martucci] has made both with maturity and his play in the two years he's been with us—he's done a 180," praised third-year head coach Jerry Smith, about the second player to collected 100 hits during his career [ANDREW RIVERA, 2013]. "The adjustments he makes within a game, and within an at bat, shows the maturity and strides he has made on the field. He's playing the best since he's been here and we're expecting bigger things from him. He's been very coachable, making the adjustments we're asking."
 
"It [100 career hits] is now an expectation we have in our program and with the youth [who have seen field time] it should be the normal, not the exception. Mike is one of those guys who is part of our foundation of what we're trying to do here."
 
NJCU, which was shutout just once last year, was limited to six hits—a third by Martucci who was 2-for-3 with a walk.  He notched his 100^th hit on a 0-1 pitch deposited down the right field line with two outs in the third inning that started NJCU's best scoring opportunity of the game. Junior first baseman ALEX WEINSTEIN (Colonia, NJ/JFK-Iselin) walked and junior catcher MIGUEL AVILES (Union City, NJ/Saint Mary's (Jersey City)), making his first start or appearance as a Gothic Knight singled to load the bases, before sophomore designated hitter ANDREW NIECH (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) grounded out to second base.
 
Fellin, a Third-Team All-State Group 1 standout last year who helped Middlesex win the NJSIAA Group 1 state championship, pitched well in his collegiate debut, but suffered the loss (0-1). In 8.0 innings, he struck out five and walked only two while allowing two runs and nine hits over 112 pitches.
 
He made just two mistakes in the loss—a solo homerun to left given up to second baseman Dylin Brooks in the top of the first and a two-out RBI single to first baseman Chad Jacob in the eighth. Freshman righty MARK PETRUCELLI (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Queen of Peace) threw for the second day in a row in relief, allowing just one hit while facing four batters in a scoreless ninth.
 
Aviles, Niech and freshman third baseman TAYLOR BORN (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) each singled to account for NJCU's other hits. NJCU's other scoring chance came in the bottom of the sixth with two men on after a single and walk, but a pair of groundouts ended the threat.
 
The Bobcats tallied 10 hits, led by right fielder Logan Douglas who was 4-for-4 while Brooks batted 2-for-3 with a run, RBI and walk. Brooks' homer was the only extra base hit of the game for either side. The Bobcats also loaded the bases in the third before Jacob lined out to Martucci in center.
 
Senior righty Matt Kochasic earned the win for the Bobcats (1-1), leaving after six innings with a 1-0 lead. In 81 pitches he scattered four singles, walked three and struck out one. Freshman lefty Billy Elliott earned an old-fashioned save, tossing the final three innings in relief, allowing two singles, with a walk and strikeout over 39 pitches.
 
Smith, noting the ups and downs of close baseball, summed it up by saying: "We are now 1-3 and our run differential is 4 in 4 games. We're competing and once we learn how to win—that's the only difference right now. Any given day, 60 percent of our starters are freshmen and a lot of times when you have a young team it takes a little while to learn how to win. But we're playing well, we're optimistic about the direction of the program and what we need to do to. In the games we're playing, it's coming down to one pitch or one play and in the kinds of games we're playing, the differential can be that small."
 
NJCU next faces Saint Joseph's College (Maine), the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) champions, a year after going 31-14 and playing three games in the NCAA Tournament. That game with the Monks (4-2) is Monday, March 10 at 9 a.m. in Winter Haven, FL.

Sunday, March 9, 2014 | Winter Haven, Fla.
University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg (2-4)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	10	0
New Jersey City University (1-3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
WP: Matt Kochasic (1-1). LP: KRIS FELLIN (0-1). SV: Billy Elliott (1).  HR: Dylin Brooks (1).