MADISON, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior first baseman Andrew Niech (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) homered for the third consecutive day and drove in five runs to help give the New Jersey City University baseball team a 10-4 lead. However, Drew University rallied in the bottom of the ninth, scoring five runs against the NJCU bullpen when it loaded the bases with one out before rookie right-handed pitcher Corey Nase (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) came in and stranded the game-tying run at second base with a game-ending strikeout as NJCU survived for a 10-9 non-conference victory over the Rangers on March 24.
 
The first five batters in the NJCU lineup all had multiple hits as sophomore center fielder Dmitri Rueger (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck), Niech, junior right fielder Joe Coutinho (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), junior third baseman/shortstop Zach Buchholz (Colonia, NJ/John F. Kennedy Memorial-Iselin) and junior catcher CJ Pulcine (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) combined for 13 of NJCU's 16 hits.
 
The Gothic Knights improved to 9-4 with the win. It's the best start after 13 games since also going 9-4 to open the 2004 campaign.
 
Niech moved into the Top 10 in school history in RBIs (86) and upped his batting average to .446 with an incredible 25 hits in 13 games as he batted 3-for-4 with five RBIs, two runs, and a two-run go-ahead homer in the top of the seventh inning before adding what proved to be a key two-run single in the eighth.
 
Buchholz (2-for-5) extended his consecutive games on-base streak to 30 straight while Rueger scored three times in a 2-for-3 effort. Pulcine was 3-for-5 and Coutinho reached base four times, hitting 3-for-4 with a run, RBI and walk.
 
Freshman right-hander Ray Liguori (Beachwood, NJ/Toms River South) improved to 2-0. In 6.0 innings he allowed two earned runs and five hits with four strikeouts and five walks.
 
After two other relievers struggled in the ninth, Nase saved the game for Liguori, his high school teammate. In 0.2 innings, Nase claimed his second collegiate save. He entered the game with the bases loaded and one out, with NJCU clinging to a 10-7 lead. He induced a groundball to third that was misplayed into a run-scoring error. With the bases still loaded, Zach Lipshitz, lined out to center. The sacrifice fly was the second out but did plate the ninth run. With the tying run on second and winning run on third, Nase struck out shortstop Isaiah Mateo looking to seal what turned out to be a nail-biting win.