aMARIETTA, Ohio — The New Jersey City University baseball team faced off with #13-ranked Denison University on Saturday, March 18, as part of the Marietta College/BSN Invitational. The Gothic Knights stayed with the highly-ranked Big Red throughout, but fell in the high-scoring affair, 21-11.

NJCU (4-6) had a tough day on the mound, but the bats — which have struggled the last couple of games — came alive once again. Four different Gothic Knights collected at least two hits against Denison (9-3), including another three-hit day for senior Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community), as well as the first-career NCAA home runs from junior Garrett Allo (Monroe, N.J./East Brunswick Tech) and senior Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial).

Denison started it off with a three-run top of the third, however Jersey City got one back in the bottom of the second as Allo launched his first-career homer to left to lead off the inning, making it 3-1. The Big Red scored one more in the top of the third, however the Gothic Knights cut it down to a one-run game in the home half. Fernandez reached on a drop at second, pushing graduate student Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) to third — Hernandez scored on the play. Sophomore Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) grounded out in the next at-bat to scored Voss from third and make it 4-3.

After Denison took a 7-3 lead in the fourth, Jersey City scored six between the fifth and sixth to take a 9-7 lead into the seventh. Fernandez got it started with a two-out, two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth before senior Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) found an open spot in the infield with two outs to plate both Voss and junior Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) to tie it up at 7-7. Another dropped fly, this time in center, helped the Gothic Knights to two more runs as Fernandez and Vizzoni came around to score and make it 9-7.

The lead was short-lived, unfortunately, as Denison exploded for four runs in the seventh and an eight-spot in the eighth to make it 19-11. The Big Red scored two more in the top of the ninth to close it out at 21-11.

Highlights:
- Hernandez finished 3-for-5 with two runs and a double. Voss was 2-for-6 with two stolen bases and three runs.
- Vizzoni got on base four times, going 2-for-2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch. He also had a sac fly, stole a base and scored twice.
- Allo was 2-for-5 with his first-career home run.
- In an otherwise tough pitching day for NJCU, senior Frank Shipman (Edison, N.J./Edison) had 2.1 strong innings. He did not allow a run and struck out one.

Up Next:
Jersey City returns to action tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, March 19, for its fourth and final game of the weekend at the Marietta/BSN Invitational. The Gothic Knights face Kalamazoo College at 12:15 p.m.