WESTMINSTER, Md. —The New Jersey City University baseball team dropped its non-conference matchup against McDaniel College today, Sunday, March 27, by a final score of 9-4. The Gothic Knights trailed throughout the entire game, but was able to cut the Green Terror lead to one in the top of the seventh, 5-4. The McDaniel offense was too much, pouring on four more in its final two innings to take the five-run victory. On the hill for Jersey City was senior Paul Tannucilli (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) and the right-hander gave NJCU 5.1 quality innings, striking out four hitters and allowing five earned runs.

Leading the way offensively again for the Green and Gold (7-8) was the power-hitting duo of freshman first baseman Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) and senior center fielder Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional). Kaliske finished his afternoon going 2-for-2, knocking in one run, while Voss had two hits himself, pushing his on-base streak to 17 games (dating back to last season). After the pair of multi-hit game for these two Gothic Knights, Kaliske's average moves to a team-high .478, with Voss right behind him at .453. Also, sophomore second baseman Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic) and senior catcher Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) both brought in one run each via base hits.

After being held scoreless for the first three innings, NJCU headed to the top of the fourth trailing 3-0 in need of some runs. To start the top half, Kaliske roped a double, putting himself into scoring position with nobody out. Two batters later, his fellow partner on the right-side of the infield, Pompey, knocked in the first baseman after lazering a base-hit. Junior designated hitter Caleb Ware (Newark, N.J./University) reignited the rally with a base-hit, but the Gothic Knights would have to wait for more damage, as the Green Terror (15-7) left the inning clinging to a 3-1 lead. Following the 1-2-3 inning by Tannucilli in the fourth, NJCU picked up right where it left off. To start the fifth, Voss continued his on-base streak with a two-strike single. The speedster wasted no time stealing second base, and then advanced to third on a wild-pitch with no outs. Kaliske then knocked in Voss via a long sacrifice fly to cut the Jersey City deficit to one at 3-2 with half of the contest remaining.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, McDaniel notched another two runs, pushing the lead to 5-2. The Gothic Knights made the most of the pitching change by the Green Terror in the seventh by scoring a pair to once again cut the lead back to one. The top of the order started the inning with junior right fielder Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) drawing a lead-off walk. Following two quick outs, Leslie came to the plate and delivered a double in the gap to palte Hernandez. After Kaliske and junior left fielder Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) were both hit by pitches, the bases were loaded and the pressure was on McDaniel. Leslie took advantage of a wild-pitch and scored from third to cut it to 5-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

That was all the damage the Gothic Knights' offense could muster, unfortunately, as the Green Terror tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the eighth, and ultimately defeating Jersey City 9-4. 

Up Next:
After playing three games in the past three days, NJCU will take tomorrow off and return to the field Tuesday, March 29, to take on FDU-Florham. This will be the final non-conference tuneup for the Gothic Knights before they start their New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) schedule on Saturday, April 2, against The College of New Jersey. First pitch for tomorrow's battle is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. in Madison, N.J.