New Jersey City University Athletics

PITMAN, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior right fielder Joe Coutinho (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) and freshman designated hitter Lenin Gomez (Edison, NJ/Edison) each amassed tremendous campaigns for the New Jersey City University baseball team and the pair was rewarded, earning Second-Team All-New Jersey Athletic Conference distinction for the 2017 season in voting conducted by the league's 10 head coaches.
 
Coutinho, the NJAC Player of the Week on May 1, caps his career with his first post-season nod. Meanwhile, Gomez, the league's Rookie of the Week in week seven (April 3), was runner-up for Rookie of the Year honors and was one of just five freshmen selected All-NJAC.
 
The tandem were part of a strong lineup that led the Gothic Knights to an 18-18 record that made NJCU eligible for the ECAC Division III championship, prior to the event's cancellation. NJCU was just one win shy of qualifying for the NJAC Tournament, and posted the most victories by the program since 2005.
 
Meanwhile, NJCU upset three nationally-ranked opponents during the course of the season—No. 25 Kean (April 1) and No. 11/13 TCNJ (April 23) and No. 29 Rowan (April 27) at home. Sprinkled in were a road doubleheader sweep of Skyline Conference regular season champion and New York regionally-ranked  St. Joseph's (LI) on April 26, a road doubleheader split with CUNYAC league champion Staten Island (April 10), and a 12-2 season-ending victory over New York regionally-ranked NYU on May 3. Other notable wins including a 10-6 road victory at Mid-Atlantic regionally-ranked Drew on March 23.  
 

JOE COUTINHO 2017 SUMMARY:
Coutinho saved his best for last. He enjoyed a career-season with 50 hits and a .388 batting average while starting the final 35 games of the season in right. In 129 at bats he added 40 RBIs and produced 17 extra-base hits—13 doubles, two triples and two homers, for 73 total bases (.566 slugging percentage). He scored 26 runs and walked 18 times (three hit by pitch) to collect a .461 on-base percentage, adding four sacrifice flies. On the bases, he had 12 steals in 14 attempts. He had 66 putouts and three assists defensively (.945 fielding percentage).
 
Coutinho, named NJAC Player of the Week for week 11 and later ECAC Division III Metro Player of the Week, led NJCU in average, hits, RBIs, total bases, doubles, slugging, and triples. He ranked second in on-base percentage, walks, and steals.
 
Within the 18-game conference schedule he batted .348 with 23 hits (66 at bats) and an impressive 22 RBIs, scoring eight runs. He had nine extra-base hits in the NJAC (five doubles, two triples, two homers) and a .421 on-base rate with eight walks, while going 3-for-4 in steals.
 
Coutinho was second in the league in RBIs during conference play, third in homers and slugging, fourth in triples, fifth in total bases, 10th in hits, 11th in batting average, 13th in doubles, 16th in on base rate and steals, and 20th in walks. He had a .567 average with runners on base—second best of any player in league play—and was sixth in average with two outs (.400). He also was second in the league in average with RBI ops (.609), fourth in percentage advancing runners (.667) and eighth with six two-out RBIs.  
 
Coutinho, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound right-handed hitter majoring in Finance and Marketing, is a two-sport athlete for the Gothic Knights. He completed his second year of men's golf this past fall. On the diamond, he finished his standout career among the top 10 in school history with 89 RBIs and Top 20 in hits with 129 in 130 games while making 110 starts. In 412 career at bats he produced 68 runs, 24 doubles, three triples and three homers for a .408 slugging percentage. He walked 56 times (12 hit by pitch) and owned a .405 on-base rate with 26 stolen bases.
 
LENIN GOMEZ 2017 SUMMARY:
Named to the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week on May 9, Gomez, a 5-foot-9, 220-pound Criminal Justice major, who has also played first base, catcher and third base this season, was runner-up for Rookie of the Year honors.
 

He played and started 35 games and batted .310 with 40 hits (129 at bats), 29 RBIs, 21 runs, 11 doubles and three home runs, adding a .368 on-base percentage (10 walks, three hit by pitches). Defensively, he had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 88 putouts and seven assists in 95 chances. He was second among NJCU players in RBIs, third in doubles and total bases (60) and one of four players with at least 40 hits. Gomez had 10 multiple-hit and six multi-RBI games. He played 16 games in the field and 20 at designated hitter.
 
Within the league, Gomez played and started 17 of 18 games and batted .306 with 19 hits (62 at bats) and 14 RBIs. He scored eight times, had four doubles and all three of his homers came during NJAC action, where he produced a .516 slugging rate. His NJAC on-base percentage was .362.
 
In league play he tied for the league lead in homers. Additionally, he ranked eighth in slugging, ninth in RBIs, 11th in total bases (32), 17th in hit by pitch, 19th in doubles, 24th in hits, 28th in batting average and had four two-out RBIs.
 
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