PATCHOGUE, N.Y. —The New Jersey City University baseball team returned to the diamond today, April 26, for the first time since their historic doubleheader victory against Ramapo this past weekend. The squad took care of business in game one with their timely hitting and consistent pitching, defeating St. Joesph's (LI) by a final score of 11-4. In game two, NJCU continued their momentum from the first game by scoring in each of the first four innings, including a 6-1 lead heading into the fourth, but a late-comeback by the Golden Eagles gave the home team the win, 13-6, respectively.

Leading the way on the offensive side this evening were juniors Jon Taylor (Englewood, N.J./Dwight Morrow) and Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community), who combined for eight hits, six RBI and scored six times. Taylor in game-one had a career performance by going 3-3 with a walk and RBI. This was the most hits that the infielder recorded in one game and the Englewood native stayed hot in game two, collecting two more hits and RBI. The reigning New Jersey Ahtletic Conference (NJAC) player of the week, Hernandez, moved his on-base streak to 13 games in game one, after the outfielder launched his fourth homerun of the season (second grand slam). In game two, Hernandez kept the streak alive by collecting two hits in the defeat. 

Each game of the doubleheader today was 7 innings.

Game 1: NJCU 11, St. Josephs' (LI) 4

NJCU (12-23, 3-11 NJAC) sent out freshman Riley Morrow (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) to make his first career start in the Green and Gold. The right-hander was no stranger to the mound, as Morrow tied a team-high with his 14th appearance of the season this evening. The Ocean Township native was dominate in his first two innings, not allowing any runs and only one base-runner. After a SJC run in the third inning, the Gothic Knights dropped four runs in the fourth. This rally was ignited by lead-off single from sophomore Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic) and junior catcher Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) lining a ball the other way for a double, putting two-runners into scoring position with one-out. Freshman Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) wasted no time by hitting a laser on the first pitch he saw to left, knocking in Pompey and Leslie. Kaliske didn't wait long on-base, as sophomore Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) followed the laser by hitting a gap-shot to right-center and hustling for a triple. Capping off the inning was freshman catcher/outfielder Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) bringing home Moreno on a fielder's-choice, giving NJCU the 4-1 lead in the fourth inning. The squad was also able to scratch home another run in the next inning with Pompey hitting a sac-fly, allowing Hernandez to score.

The Golden Eagles (16-11, 13-5 Skyline) did bring home a run in the fifth inning on a homerun, but NJCU bats continued to mash by bringing 6 runs in the inning, extending the Gothic Knight lead to 9 runs. This time it was the bottom of the order doing the damage for squad. After a leadoff pop-out, the runaway inning began with Moreno and Vaughn reaching on base-knocks. Bringing home Moreno was Taylor by scorching a ball to left. Junior Caleb Ware (Newark, N.J./University) walked in the nine-hole, turning the lineup over for Hernandez. The Florida native hit a missile that just went over the right-field fence, giving Jersey City the 10-2 lead and securing his fourth bomb of the year. Later in the inning, junior Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) drove in Pompey, to give the squad a 9 run lead.

Morrow got into some trouble in the sixth, giving up two runs and ultimately ending his evening on the bump. The freshman was solid, going 5.2 innings, allowing four runs and punching out two on his way to his first career victory. Junior Berto Reyes (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) came in to close the door, and right-hander got out all four-batters he faced, closing out the 11-4 victory. 

Game 2: St. Joesph's (LI) 13, NJCU (6)

The Gothic Knights used their momentum from game one by getting the board early in the first. Hernandez extended his on-base streak to 14 games by leading off the game with a base-hit to right field. After a fly-out, junior slugger Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) came to the box and sent the baseball over the right-field fence, giving the squad 2-0 lead. This was the 9th homerun of the season for Voss which is a team-high and moves him to second in the NJAC. The Green and Gold responded right back to SJC tying the game in the bottom-half by re-taking the lead in the second inning. Very similar to game one, Moreno led off the inning by legging out a triple to the right-center gap and Taylor brought his fellow infielder to the plate by collecting an opposite field base-knock. 

Head coach Jerry Smith sent out junior Ronnie Wallraff (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) to make his second career start and 13th appearance on the mound. The right-hander was cruising in his first three innings, only surrendering one run and allowing just two Golden Eagle hits. As stated before, the squad were able to score in all four innings and creating the destruction in the fourth inning was junior Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic). Taylor and Hernandez both mustard hits, giving the two-hole hitter a chance to do damage with runners on. Vizzoni joined in on the hit parade by doubling down the line, bringing in Taylor and Hernandez for his 28th and 29th RBI of the year. Voss was stranded at second following his double that moved his average to a team-high .394. 

The Golden Eagle offense was just too much for the Gothic Knights, as SJC scored 12 of their 13 runs in the final three innings to give the home-team a 13-6 victory. 

Up Next: The New Jersey City University baseball team will look to continue their hot-stretch on Thursday, April 28, when they head to Newark, N.J., to take on NJAC rival Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.