JERSEY CITY, N.J. — For the first time in 350 days, the New Jersey City University baseball team captured a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) victory. The Gothic Knights ended their 11-game skid today, April 16, as the squad defeated the Rutgers-Camden Scarlet Raptors, 6-5, in game two of the doubleheader. The victory came in walk-off fashion, with freshman
Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) securing the victory on a bases-loaded walk. In the first game of the day, Camden was victorious by defeating the Green and Gold, 8-6.
Game 1: Rutgers-Camden 8, NJCU 6
Making his fifth start of the season for the Gothic Knights (9-20, 1-9 NJAC) this afternoon was senior right-hander
Paul Tannucilli (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge). The knuckleballer had one of his better starts of the year, surrendering just three earned runs over his 7.1 innings on the bump, while punching out a season-high six batters. The squad was on the Scarlet Raptors (17-13, 4-6 NJAC) starting pitcher early, scoring at least one run in three of the first four innings, including two moonshots over the fence at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. Following a walk by the sophomore leadoff hitter
Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic), senior outfielder
Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) mashed his team-high seventh homerun of the season, giving the Green and Gold an early 2-0 lead. This homerun moved Voss into a tie for fourth in the NJAC this season.
Rutgers answered quickly, scoring a run in the top of the second. In the next half, junior outfielder
Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) launched a ball over the fence in right for his second homerun on the year. Leading 3-2 heading into the fourth, a senior
Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) walk and base-hit by junior
Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) gave the squad two runners on with no outs, looking to do some damage. Collecting his second RBI and bringing home Leslie was Hernandez as the Florida native advanced the catcher via hard-hit fielder's choice up the middle. Again, the Scarlet Raptors responded well, tying the game at 4-4 in the fifth. This time, the Gothic Knights were the one who responded to the Camden rally by regaining the lead in the bottom half. This two-out rally for the squad was led by three straight base-hits from sophomore
Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic), freshman
Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) — who returned to action today — and Vaughn. Putting the Green and Gold ahead 5-4 was junior
Caleb Ware (Newark, N.J./University) with a screamer up the middle.
Tannucilli returned to the mound in the sixth to toss a 1-2-3 inning but the NJCU defense did not help the knuckleballer, recording two errors in the seventh to allow Rutgers to take an 8-5 lead. Freshman
Frank Shipman (Edison, N.J./Edison) came into the game for Jersey City and the right-hander finished without allowing a run over the final two innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Vizzoni launched his fourth homerun on the season, trailing just Voss on the team, but it was not enough as RCU ultimately defeated the Gothic Knights 8-6.
Game 2: NJCU 6, Rutgers-Camden 5 (10 innings)
Freshman
Andre Dean (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) got the ball for the Gothic Knights to start game two and the right-hander had another career performance. Similar to Tannucilli, Dean went 7.0 innings, striking out three and only allowed three earned. This was a much different game then the first, as this was a pitchers' duel with five different lead changes and an extra-inning, because the first nine were not enough.
Dean tossed two hitless innigns to start, but the Scarlet Raptor bats mustered a run in the third, taking 1-0 lead. rookie kept his composure, shutting down all three hitters he faced in the fourth. NJCU capitalized on Rutgers-Camden mistakes in the bottom half of the inning, tying the game at 1-1 after Vizzoni knocked home Leslie on a ground-ball out. Following a quiet fifth for both, Camden came with vengeance in the sixth, retaking the lead by a run. Jersey City responded immediately by scoring two in the next half to take a 3-2 lead. This rally was ignited by a leadoff single from Ware. The speedster then scored thanks to a double off the bat of Leslie. Then, bringing home the catcher was Vizzoni, who collected his second RBI by lasering a ball to left.
Two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth gave Rutgers-Camden the one run lead again. Hernandez came into the game to pitch in ninth and the right-hander gave NJCU all the momentum back, retiring all three hitters in order and giving the Gothic Knights one last opportunity to make a two-run comeback. The squad started the two-out rally with Hernandez helping himself, cracking a base-knock, followed by a Pompey walk to put the tying run on base. Not having to wait long, Moreno hit a rocket to the game in right-center to plate Hernandez and Pompey and send the game to extras.
Hernandez would finish the top of the 10th by stranding two runners on and did not allow a run. The bottom half began with Jersey City loading the bases from singles by Leslie and Vizzoni and a Voss free pass. The Scarlet Raptors brought in a new arm to face Vaughn, but the rookie took all four pitches he saw to give NJCU the 6-5, extra-inning walk-off victory for the squad's first NJAC victory of the season.
Up Next:
The Green and Gold will take the next few days off and return to the Gerrity on Tuesday, April 19, to take on the College at Old Westbury in a non-conference matchup. NJCU looks to continue its success against the Panthers, having won seven straight against them. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
