JERSEY CITY, N.J. — For the fourth consecutive game, the New Jersey City University baseball team's offensive attack has come alive. The Gothic Knights took an early lead against John Jay College on Thursday afternoon, March 9, at Caven Point Field and then used a massive 13-run third inning to top the Bloodhounds by a final score of 21-6. Overall, NJCU notched 14 hits and drew a combined 15 free bases on walks or hit-by-pitches.
The Green and Gold (4-1) were led initially by senior
Julian Fernandez (Union, N.J./Union), who went 5.0 innings in his first appearance and start of the season. The right-hander struck out seven batters and allowed just three hits and one earned run to nail down the victory. On the backend of the bullpen, rookie
Mike Napolitano (Belleville, N.J./Belleville) was dominant. The freshman entered the game in the top of the seventh with two runners on after Jersey City had just allowed three runs and proceeded to get three straight outs — including two of his six strikeouts on the afternoon — to get things going. He finished with 3.0 innings of work and allowed just two hits to pick up the first save of his collegiate career.
Offensively, 15 of the 17 NJCU batters that saw time in the box against John Jay (1-7) reached base safely, including six with multiple RBI. Senior rightfielder
Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) got things rolling in the bottom of the first with a leadoff triple and eventually came around on a sac fly from graduate student centerfielder
Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional). Eventually, senior designated hitter
Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) — he reached on the first of his three walks on the day — and sophomore catcher
Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) both scored in the inning.
After a scoreless second, the Gothic Knights took over in the bottom of the third. Six different NJCU players were hit by a pitch in this inning, along with six others that drew walks for a total of 12 free base runners. Voss got it started with a RBI double to plate Vizzoni, before he and Vaughn scored as rookie third baseman
Dom Yarson (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) reached on an errant throw by the the Bloodhounds. The Gothic Knights then forced in five straight runs with walks or hit by pitches before Vaughn came around again to plate Hernandez with a sac fly. Sophomore leftfielder
John Abrahamsen (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) did the same to score Vizzoni before Voss scored on a wild pitch. Freshman shortstop
Arian Lunar (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) followed with an infieidl RBI single before Hernandez closed out the scoring with a one-run single to right, making it 16-0.
NJCU scored three more in the bottom of the fourth, all with two outs. Rookie first baseman
Adrian Contreras (Union City, N.J./Union City) reached on an error at second to push junior catcher
Ricky Tuero (West New York, N.J./Memorial) across the plate. Then, junior second baseman
Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) his a one-run double to score senior leftfielder
Caleb Ware (Newark, N.J./University). Finally, rookie second baseman
Montrell Mayo-Smith (Springfield, N.J./Jonathan Dayton) came in as a pinch hitter and singled home Contreras to make it 19-0. The Jersey City offense concluded in the bottom of the fifth with two more runs to take a 21-1 lead at the time. Both came on a two-out double to left from Contreras.
Highlights:
- Hernandez finished 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, a triple and a walk. Vizzoni scored all three times he was on base, stole a bag and forced in one of those bases loaded runs.
- Voss was 1-for-1 with three RBI, two runs, a double, a hit-by-pitch and a sac fly. Similarly, Vaughn was 1-for-1 with one RBI, two runs, was hit by a pitch and had a sac fly.
- Ware finished 2-for-2 at the plate with a hit-by-pitch and a run scored.
- Contreras and Moreno were each 1-for-4 with two RBI and one double. Contreras also scored three times, drew a walk and was hit by a pitch. Moreno drew a pair of walks.
- NJCU entered the day with the third-highest scoring offense in all of NCAA Division III at 14.8 runs per game. After today, they are now at 16.0 runs per game.
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights hit the road tomorrow, Friday, March 10, for a 1:00 p.m. matchup in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., against Mount Saint Mary College. NJCU does not return to Jersey City until Wednesday, March 22, when the squad is scheduled to open up play at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex at 3:30 p.m. against Alvernia University.
