BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The New Jersey University baseball team returned to the Northeast today, Thursday, March 17, following their Spring Trip, but fell in a non-conference matchup against Moravian University. In this thriller of the game, NJCU was in control for most of the battle, but fell short after a three-run ninth inning rally by MU, giving the Greyhounds the 7-6 victory. The Green and Gold were led by senior outfielder Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) who hit his ninth career homerun, along with another hit and batted in four runs. Also, freshman first baseman Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) kept on with his strong start, finishing with three hits (two doubles) and a RBI.

Taking the mound for the second time this season for the Gothic Knights (3-5) was freshman Andre Dean (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) and the right-hander again had success for the squad. Dean was dominate in his first two innings of work, giving the NJCU bats the opportunity to take advantage and get on the board first.

Jersey City wasted no time and came to life in the third inning. The first damage of the game was led by sophomore Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) who started off the top of the inning with a screamer up the middle. Aggressive base-running pushed Moreno into scoring position with only one-out and the heart of the NJCU lineup coming up. Voss did not leave Moreno stranded for long, knocking him in with a base-hit up the middle of his own to give the squad a 1-0 lead heading into the fourth inning.

The Greyhounds (7-5) responded right back in the next half-inning by blasting a two-run homerun to take the lead 2-1. 

Continuing is scorching start to his Gothic Knight career, Kaliske doubled down the rightfield line to start the top of the fourth and give the Green and Gold the chance to retake the lead. Sophomore second baseman Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic) did his job next, moving Kaliske to third base with one out. The freshmen class did the damage again for NJCU, but this time it was catcher Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) blasting a ball to right-center, tying the game up for Jersey City with Dean dealing through the MU lineup. The right-hander got right back on the bump and found himself in a tough situation with two runners on and one out, but escaped the Greyhound rally spotless to keep the game all tied up at 2-2.

After a scoreless top-half of the fifth inning for the Green and Gold offense, the MU offense rallied again, loading up the bases with one-out to get ahead. This pushed the freshman hurler out of the game, but Dean was dominate in the second and best outing of his young career, finishing with 4.1 innings, five hits and two runs allowed while striking out five Greyhounds. Head coach Jerry Smith turned to another freshman, Riley Morrow (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township), to get the Gothic Knights out of the jam and the rookie did just that. Morrow stranded all three MU base runners after getting the batter to fly out to Voss in center, ending the rally and keeping the game tied 2-2. 

Another quiet inning by the NJCU bats gave the momentum back to Greyhounds and they made the most out of the quick inning by coming back with a run for themselves to take the 3-2 lead late in the game. But in the back-and-forth affair, it was the Gothic Knights' turn to take some hacks and their bats lit up in the bottom of the seventh. Getting the rally going again was Moreno, leading off the inning with a walk. Turning the lineup over, junior outfielder Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) captured his first hit of the day after lining a ball up the middle, moving Moreno to third with no-outs. Then, Voss did something that he has done eight other times in his memorable career so far, but something that no Gothic Knight had yet done during this season.

The senior went yard and hit his ninth-career homerun, the bomb leaving over the left-center field fence and scoring both Moreno and Hernandez to give the Green and Gold a 5-3 lead. Following the moonshot by Voss, junior third baseman Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) followed with his first hit of the day, finding a hole up the middle. After Vizzoni was thrown out trying to steal second, Kaliske hit another double but this time down the other line. The Greyhounds stopped the Gothic Knight rally, stranding Kaliske at second and NJCU led 5-3 after seven.

Coming into the game to relieve Morrow was junior Justin Wiltsey (Hamilton Township, N.J./Hamilton West), who normally starts at the top of the rotation for NJCU. The right-hander entered and shut down the first three Moravian hitters he saw in order, maintain the 5-3 advantage. MU shut down the NJCU bats in the top of the eighth, giving the home team time to make a dent into the deficit. Using the momentum in their favor, the Blue and Grey did not go away without a fight, clawing back one run in the inning and trailed 5-4 entering the ninth.

Craving more insurance runs for Wiltsey, Jersey City capitalized on the mistakes by the Greyhounds to add on to their 5-4 lead. First, Hernandez was able to get on base following an MU error and then Vizzoni worked a nine-pitch at-bat to earn another free base to put two runners on for the power hitting Kaliske. The rookie knocked a bullet through the left side to score Hernandez and extending the Gothic Knight lead to 6-4. This base-hit by Kaliske moved the first baseman's average to .545 which now leads the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).

Unfortunately, the MU offense was just too much, as the Greyhounds scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to complete the comeback and defeat NJCU 7-6 in the St. Patrick's Day thriller.

Up Next:
Jersey City will have a quick turnaround, as the squad returns to the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex for the first time this season — weather permitting — tomorrow, March 3, for a non-conference matchup against St. Joesph's College-Brooklyn. The Green and Gold look to continue their success against the Bears as they are 6-0 in the all-time series. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.