AUBURNDALE, Fla. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University scored five runs in the second inning and defeated Pitt-Greensburg, 6-2, in the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Main Field on March 4.
 
After twice having its season opener delayed—February 25 due to rain and yesterday's scheduled Florida opener with SUNY-Poly due to weather-related flight changes—the Gothic Knights (1-0) produced 11 hits and played error-free baseball. The Bobcats are 2-3.
 
Junior third baseman Jesse Kraft (Nutley, NJ/Saint Mary-Rutherford), a transfer from Brookdale Community College, notched a pair of doubles in his first game for his new team, batting 2-for-4 (1 run, 1 RBI) and sophomore designated hitter Lenin Gomez (Edison, NJ/Edison) and junior shortstop Nick LoGatto (Helmetta, NJ/Spotswood) each batted 3-for-4. Sophomore right fielder Juan Pena (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy), a transfer from Rider, had two RBIs in a 1-for-4 showing.
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Jose Ortiz (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) was the winner, striking out eight batters in 6.1 innings, while allowing just two runs and seven hits.
 
Senior righty Dan Foley (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) was the third of four NJCU pitchers and entered the game in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs. With the tying run at the plate, he struck out the only batter he faced on four pitches. Senior left-handed pitcher Kyle Kafer (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) struck out three of the six batters he faced in the final 2.0 innings, allowing one hit.
 
Sophomore third baseman Noah Beasley (Greensburg, Pa.) and freshman designated hitter Reno Rainey (Irwin, Pa.) each had two hits for the Bobcats while junior first baseman Tyler Holland (Pittsburgh, Pa.) walked twice and forced in a run. Senior righty Brandon Hoener (Pittsburgh, Pa.) lost for Pitt-Greensburg (0-1), allowing six runs and 11 hits in 8.0 innings.
 
After UPG led 1-0 after back-to-back doubles by Rainey and Holland in the bottom of the first, NJCU took control in the second when nine men batted for the Knights.
 
NJCU notched five consecutive hits to open the second inning—singles by Gomez and junior second baseman Tom Pulcine (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) followed by a game-tying infield single by LoGatto. After a double steal, Pena slipped a two-run single through the left side to score Pulcine and LoGatto for a 3-1 edge and Kraft's first double of the day knocked in Pena before he later came around on a ground ball.
 
UPG got a run back in the third on bases-loaded walk before Ortiz recovered to catch the next batter looking. NJCU added an insurance run in the seventh on a Bobcat throwing error and Foley cemented the win with his critical out in relief in the bottom half of the frame.
 

  NOTABLES:

• Head coach Jerry Smith has 94 career wins.
• First meeting with Pitt-Greensburg since March 9, 2014 in Winter Haven, Fla. UPG won that game, 2-0.
• Senior first baseman Dan Berardi (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) had one hit, moving into a tie for 37th in school history with 107 (Paul Grasso, 107 hits, 1991-93).

 
UP NEXT:
 

• On the second day of NJCU's spring trip, it plays its first doubleheader of the season when it meets Emerson College, members of the NEWMAC Conference, in a pair of seven-inning games, beginning at 4 p.m. in Auburndale at Lake Myrtle Sports Complex Field #5. Both games will be broadcast live and feature live stats, immediately after the athletic communications office covers the NJCU softball morning games in Fort Myers, Fla.

 
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