NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University baseball team returned to New Paltz today, Tuesday, April 5, for the first time since the squad's 5-0 victory back in 2019, but did not have the same luck as the Gothic Knights were defeated 8-2 in the non-conference matchup this afternoon. Jersey City tied the game up at 2-2 in the top of the fifth, but the Hawks' offense was too much, pouring on four runs on in the seventh and ultimately taking the six-run victory.
Four pitchers saw the hill today for NJCU (8-12), including junior
Berto Reyes (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), who made his second-career start in Green and Gold. The right-hander performed well, going 4.0 strong, while punching out three New Paltz (5-9) batters and only allowing two earned runs. This was a career-high in innings pitched for Reyes. He also matched his NJCU high in strikeouts for one outing (3). Also seeing time on the bump was freshman
Riley Morrow (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township), who tossed 2.0 innings and only allowed one run. Freshman
Frank Shipman (Edison, N.J./Edison) limited the damage in seventh, as the right-hander got the final two outs to stop the bleeding.
Continuing to mash the ball for the Gothic Knights was freshman
Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township). The catcher went 3-for-4 at the plate and, since returning from injury on March 29, the young slugger is batting .555 (10-for-18) over his last five games, recording a hit in each. Head coach
Jerry Smith mixed his lineup around today, as junior
Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) was in the lead-off spot for the first time all season and the outfielder went 1-for-3. Moving down to the clean-up spot was senior
Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) and the centerfielder went 1-for-3 with a double and scored one of the two Jersey City runs. This season, 17 of Voss' 30 hits have been of the extra base variety (10 doubles, five home runs and two triples) and his .429 average is second on the team, behind only freshman
Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) (.462). Making only his second start of the season was junior
Caleb Ware (Newark, N.J./University) and the designated hitter had a career day at the plate. Ware had a career-high two hits in his three chances to go along with a stolen base. In his 16 at-bat's this season, the speedster is hitting .375 and is tied for second on the team with four steals.
Jersey City captured both of their runs in back-to-back innings. To start the fourth inning only trailing by one, Voss mustered a double to the gap in right, putting him into scoring position and giving NJCU a chance to tie it. Following a Vaughn single up the middle to put runners on the corners, senior first baseman
Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) took advantage. The lefty attacked the first pitch he saw, knocking a base-hit to centerfield and to bring home Voss to tie it at 1-1. After New Paltz regained the lead in bottom half of the fourth, scoring once, the Gothic Knights responded by tying the game back up in the fifth. This rally started with Ware and his legs after the junior hit a bullet base-hit to center. He wasted no time by advancing to second via stolen base. Fernandez did his job by advancing Ware on a sacrifice bunt and then junior third baseman
Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) finished the job by knocking in Ware on a ball right back to the pitcher, tying the game at 2-2.
From this point forward, as mentioned, the Hawks took care of the rest of the offense in the final four innings to take home the 8-2 victory.
Up Next:
The Green and Gold will take tomorrow off as the squad is scheduled (weather permitting) to return to the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex this Thursday, April 7, to take on New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival Rowan University. NJCU looks to change its luck against the powerhouse Profs, as the squad is 0-7 dating back to 2017 against Rowan. First pitch for this NJAC clash is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
