WAYNE, N.J. — The New Jersey City University baseball team closed out New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play for the 2023 season on Monday afternoon, May 1, on the road at William Paterson University. The Gothic Knights went down early to the Pioneers, however they came close with some late-inning offense before ultimately dropping the game, 15-8. Senior rightfielder
Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) is riding a 22-game on-base streak and also blasted his team-leading ninth home run of the season, tying the NJCU single-season record. He is the fourth Gothic Knight to do so, along with graduate centerfielder
Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional), who accomplished that feat last year. Voss also extended his on-base streak to 30 games in a row.
Jersey City (12-27, 2-16 NJAC) took an early 2-0 lead over William Paterson (25-13, 12-6 NJAC) in the top of the first thanks to a two-out rally. Junior third baseman
Garrett Allo (Monroe, N.J./East Brunswick Tech) led off with a walk, followed by the same from Hernandez and rookie designated hitter
Dom Yarson (Ewing, N.J./Ewing). Then, with the bases juiced, sophomore catcher
Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) smacked a two-run single through the left side to plate Allo and Hernandez. The Pioneers answered with a run in each of their next two innings to tie it up at 2-2 heading into the third before the home team took a 4-2 lead in the third. WPU then exploded for six runs in the fourth to go up 10-2.
NJCU scratched across another run in the top of the fifth, again with two outs. After a non-traditional double play moved senior second baseman
Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) into scoring position, Voss brought him home with a run-scoring double to the gap in left. The Pioneers answered with a run in the home half of the fifth, but the Green and Gold scored another in the top of the sixth as Hernandez blasted a leadoff bomb — he is fifth in the NJAC in round-trippers this season. WPU closed out its offense in the bottom of the sixth with four more runs to go up 15-4.
The Green and Gold plated on run in the top off the seventh on a botched double-play, allowing Vizzoni — who led off the inning with a double to left — to score all the way from second. Junior righthander
D.J. Dekis (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) entered in relief on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and proceeded to toss 2.0 scoreless, hitless innings to finish out the game. In the top of the eighth, NJCU scored three more as the visitors looked to make it interesting once again.
Yarson led off with a walk and then, two outs later, rookie first baseman
Adrian Contreras (Union City, N.J./Union City) did the same to put two runners on. Vizzoni followed with a one-run double to the gap in left to make it 15-6 before freshman shortstop
Arian Lunar (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) smacked a two-run single to the same spot in left, plating Vizzoni and Contreras to make it 15-8. NJCU did manage to load the bases over the next two at-bats, but could not push any more runs across.
Highlights:
- Vizzoni finished 2-for-3 with three runs, a RBI, two doubles and a walk on the day.
- Contreras was 2-for-4 with a run and a walk.
- Vaughn and Lunar were each 1-for-4 with two RBI and a walk.
- Hernandez is currently top 10 in the NJAC in seven different categories, including top five in doubles (third with 21), slugging (fifth at .704) and home runs.
- Voss is top 10 in the conference in nine categories, including stolen bases (third with 18), on-base percentage (sixth at .511) and doubles (sixth with 16).
Up Next:
The Gothic Knights, with Mother Nature playing around with their late-season schedule, have finally officially concluded their 2023 NJAC regular-season. NJCU, having had to replace their original Senior Day due to a cancelation and today's rescheduled game versus the Pioneers, are working to schedule a new date for the 2023 Senior Day, which will eventually take place in presumably gorgeous conditions within the friendly confines of the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. Jersey City is set to recognize 12 members of is its program on that day.
