DAVENPORT, Fla. — The New Jersey City University baseball team wrapped up its Spring Trip today, Wednesday, March 9, and heads back to Jersey City with back-to-back wins. Similar to yesterday, the Gothic Knights' offense exploded, scoring 12 runs and had four different sluggers with two or more hits. Continuing his blazing start, freshman Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) followed yesterday's masterful performance with three more hits today and drove in a run. Kaliske is now hitting an eye-opening .500 through his first five career games. He is not the only slugger that is on a tear, as junior Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) drove in three runs of his own and scored twice. The third baseman is hitting .400 this season, behind only Kaliske, and leads the squad with 10 hits.

NJCU (3-4) for the second day in a row got on the board first, giving senior John Pudder (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) a 1-0 lead. The middle-of-the-order hitters for Jersey City were able to attack the University of Massachusets-Dartmouth (4-3) mistakes early, with Vizzoni reaching on an error and senior backstop Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) drawing a two-out walk. The two-out rally put the hottest Gothic Knight hitter at the plate with a chance to knock in a run. Kaliske hit a rocket up-the-middle, giving the squad the early lead. UMD responded, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the first. 

After Pudder's scoreless second inning, the top-of-the-order got things going for the squad in the top of the third. The junior/senior outfield combo of Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) and Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) gave NJCU the opportunity to tie the game. Hernandez started the inning with a double down the right field line, putting him in scoring position with the heart of the Green and Gold lineup approaching. Voss did his job by advancing Hernandez with a ground-ball to the right side, setting up Vizzoni to tie it. He came up big, hitting a ball through the left side of the infield, tying the game up at 2-2; However, the Corsairs did not go away and tacked on two more runs to retake the lead, 4-2. 

The Green and Gold did not mind going back-and-forth with their bats, scoring another two runs in the top of the fourth to tie it up. This time, it was the bottom of the order doing the damage. Junior Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) led things off with a walk and then caused an error by the Corsairs pitcher, moving him all the way to third. The leather-flasher for NJCU, Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic), drew a walk for himself putting two runners on with no outs. After another throwing error by the pitcher, Fernandez found himself scoring easily. Pompey moved to third, which allowed sophomore shortstop Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) to knock his fellow infielder in with a fielders choice, tying the game once again.

Following a one-hour rain delay, Jersey City team turned to junior Justin Wiltsey (Hamilton Township, N.J./Hamilton West) to ease the Corsairs' offensive attack. The right-hander delivered his best outing of the season so far, finishing with 5.0 innings pitched. He allowed just three hits and one earned run. This allowed the Gothic Knight bats to gain control and they did that and more. After Wiltsey surrendered his only earned run of the game in the sixth, the Green and Gold went back to work in the top of the seventh, looking to tie the game. Again, the squad capitalized on the mistakes from the opposition's defense and the free-passes for the Gothic Knights. Moreno led things off with a walk and then moved into scoring position after an error by the Corsairs. Voss helped his buddy Vizzoni out by working a walk to load the bases. Vizzoni struck early, skying a ball into left field that allowed Moreno to score and tie the game up once again, 5-5.

Wiltsey's one-two-three bottom half of the seventh inning gave the Gothic Knights the opportunity to re-take the lead. This offense did not only take the lead, but the squad exploded for seven runs in the top of the eighth, taking complete control of the game at 12-5. Kaliske started the late-inning rally with a single to center. Wiltsey helped himself, knocking in the freshman. Hernandez gave the right-hander even more insurance by doubling again, this time almost leaving the yard in right-center and knocking in two more runs. Back-to-back knocks by Voss and Vizzoni down the left-field line extended the NJCU lead to 10-5. To finish the rally, Leslie joined in with his first hit of the day, driving in Voss and Vizzoni to take a seven run lead heading into the final two innings.

Wiltsey and the rest of the squad had to wait through another hour-long rain delay, but it was worth the wait for the Gothic faithful. The junior returned from the delay firing another one-two-three inning, pushing Jersey City to three-outs until the squad could return home with a victory. In the final half inning, Pompey came into relieve Wiltsey on the mound and the two-way sophomore closed the door on the Corsairs, striking out the final batter and securing the 12-6 victory.

Up Next:
Take a deep breath NJCU fans, as the Gothic Knights will return to the field a week from tomorrow on Thursday, March 17, in Bethlehem, Pa. The squad heads to Moravian College for a scheduled-4:00 p.m. first pitch. The Gothic Knights are then scheduled to open up play at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex on Friday, March 18, against St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn. First pitch in that one is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.