GALLOWAY, N.J. – The New Jersey City University baseball team's offense erupted for 24 runs on 30 hits this afternoon, April 9, in its New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) doubleheader against the Ospreys of Stockton University, but it wasn't enough as the squad was ultimately defeated 15-13 and 15-11. The offense was led by multiple players, however sophomore Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) and junior Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) were the standouts in game-one. The two sluggers went a combined 7-of-9 at the plate with a homerun each, six runs and six RBI. Also, freshman Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two hit-by-pitches. The Green and Gold were the home team for today's NJAC clash, as both games were moved from Jersey City to Galloway yesterday due to field conditions.
 
NJCU (8-14, 0-4 NJAC) got off to a fast start in the bottom-half of the first. Following a quick 1-2-3 inning by freshman right-hander Andre Dean (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield), the Gothic Knights rallied with two outs beginning with a base-hit screamer by junior third-baseman Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic). Voss followed up the Vizzoni base-hit with a line-drive of his own to right, moving runners to first and third with Vaughn coming the plate. Coming into the game, Vaughn was 13-21 since returning from injury on March 29, and the freshman continued to stroke the ball as he lined a base-hit to left, bringing home Vizzoni and giving NJCU an early 1-0 lead.
 
But, Stockton (12-12-1) answered right back, dropping four runs on the Green and Gold in the top half of the second to take the 4-1 lead. In the next half inning, it was the Gothic Knights turn and they did some damage. The squad scored two runs in the inning, cutting the deficit to one. This rally was started by the bottom of the order with sophomore second baseman Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic) hitting a ball right back up the middle. Pompey partner in crime up the middle, Moreno ripped a ball to left, putting two on with nobody out. Making his third start of the year today was junior Caleb Ware (Newark, N.J./University), and the speedster did his job in his first at-bat by advancing Pompey and Moreno via sac-bunt. Bringing Pompey was the leadoff hitter Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial), who moved up from his usual six-hole spot, with an infield single. Fernandez wasn't done their, as heads-up base-running allowed Moreno to score when the junior got caught in a first and third rundown. Dean quietly put down the Osprey hitters in the third 1-2-3, giving the hot Gothic Knight bats a quick turnaround to mash again.
 
The squad re-took the lead in the third, bringing home another three runs. Vizzoni, Voss, and Vaughn all reached base to the load the bases for junior Mitchell Leslie (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) to do damage. The lefty wasted no time bringing Vizzoni, as the lefty scorched the first pitch he saw for a base-hit to the opposite-field. Pompey followed that up with another RBI base-hit and capping of the rally was Moreno with a lazer that brought in Vaughn and gave NJCU the 6-4 lead. The game got quiet in the next few innings but the action returned in the sixth when Stockton took an 8-6 lead. But, NJCU scratched one across in the bottom-half of the sixth to move the deficit back to one run. Right-hander Justin Wiltsey (Hamilton Township, N.J./Hamilton West) retired the seventh without allowing a run before the Osprey offense blew up for four runs to take the 12-7 lead. Not going down without a fight, junior Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) knocked home Moreno with his first extra base-hit of the afternoon. Vizzoni walked and in came a new pitcher for Stockton to take on Voss. This didn't seem to bother Voss at all. The clean-up hitter cleaned-up the bases with a no-doubt grand-slam to tie the game 12-12. The clutch homerun was the third grand-slam for NJCU this year, sixth homerun for Voss and 16^th overall which moves them into fourth in the NJAC for homeruns. As for the junior, he is now in the top five for many major hitting statistics in the conference such as batting average (5^th), homeruns (4^th) and RBI (4^th). The Ospreys came back with a homerun of their own in the ninth, taking a 15-12 lead with three-outs to play. With one last hope, Moreno hit his third homerun of the year with a towering fly-ball to left-field, but that was it as the Green and Gold fell 15-13.
 
In game two, the offense was led by Fernandez and Pompey, as the two Gothic Knights combined for four hits (two homeruns), seven RBI and four runs scored in the 15-11 defeat.
 
On the bump for Jersey City's team was right-hander Paul Tannucilli (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) and the knuckle-baller kept the Stockton offense quiet for the first two innings, allowing the Gothic Knight offense to attack first. In the bottom of the second, NJCU struck first by making the most of the Osprey mistakes. Pompey and Moreno both reached via free passes and flipped the lineup over to Fernandez, and the left-fielder came up clutch with a base-hit to lift, knocking in Pompey and giving the Green and Gold a 1-0 lead. Stockton retaliated urgently with two runs of their own, going up 2-1. Tannucilli got his runs right back, with Vizzoni leading off the third with hard-hustle triple to the gap, and knocking in Vizzoni was Vaughn by an infield hit. NJCU wasn't finished, with Pompey coming to the plate and rocketing a bomb to left, his first career homerun, and the two-run shot gave the Green and Gold 4-2 lead.
 
Similar to the first game of the doubleheader, both teams responded well in the following innings that they gave up runs. This time it was Stockton's turn, as the Blue and White took the lead right back by dropping three runs in the fourth. The Gothic Knights answered with two runs of their own in the next half inning to take control 5-4. This rally was started by Ware advancing on an error throw by the Ospreys and then Fernandez captured his second RBI of the day with a base-hit again to left.  Giving Jersey City's team the lead Vizzoni, as the third-baseman hit into a fielder's-choice that brought in Fernandez and putting the squad on-top 6-5. As stated before, in this thriller that had five lead changes, another one came here in top of the fifth with the Stockton going up 8-6 and scoring three more in the sixth to take a five-run lead.
 
Not backing down from the deficit with just two innings to play, NJCU came soaring back in the bottom half of the seventh to tie the game up at 11. This huge explosion of an inning came by two Stockton errors and four NJCU base-hits, including an RBI knock from Moreno and Ware. But, no bigger hit came off the bat the Fernandez's missile to the left-field trees that ultimately tied the game up at 11-11. This was the second homerun on the year for junior from Sayerville and now has 21 base-hits on the season.
 
But, three straight base-hits for the Blue and White gave them the 15-11 lead and due to darkness, the game was called after Stockton retired the final three NJCU hitters in-order to hold on to the four-run lead after eight innings of play.

Up Next:
The New Jersey City University baseball team will have the opportunity to avenge this NJAC doubleheader defeats quickly, as the squad hits the road again tomorrow, April 9, to take on Rowan University Owls. NJCU will look to turn their luck against the Owls tomorrow with their last victory coming in 2017 against the team from Glassboro. First pitch against the nationally ranked No. 7 team in the country is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. with game two starting directly after the first game.