Old Westbury, N.Y. - The New Jersey City University baseball team began their three game non-conference road trip today, March 26, with a matchup against SUNY Old Westbury. After jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning, the Panthers erupted in the middle innings to take the final lead change of the day. The Gothic Knights couldn't get another run across for the remainder of the game, eventually falling to the Panthers, 11-5.

After a scoreless first inning, NJCU claimed the first run of the afternoon in the second. Freshman infielder Brandon Piacenza (Bloomfield, N.J., Bloomfield) led off the inning with a single to left field. He would advance to second via a passed ball with junior catcher Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J., Ocean Township) at the plate. Vaughn reached on a walk to put runners at first and second, allowing senior infielder Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y., Trenton Catholic) to lay down a sacrifice bunt and put both runners in scoring position. Sophomore infielder Arian Lunar (Elizabeth, N.J., Elizabeth) knocked in Piacenza from third for the latter's first run of 2024, and the former also advanced Vaughn to third along with his fourth RBI of the season. With two outs and the second run of the game in scoring position, freshman infielder Jeremy Ricourt (Perth Amboy, N.J., JFK Memorial) would reach and advance to second on a Panthers miscue, which also allowed Vaughn to score to give the Gothic Knights a 2-0 lead. 

The Green and Gold picked up right where they left off to start the third inning. With one out, sophomore designated hitter Dom Yarson (Ewing, N.J., Ewing) worked his sixth walk of the season, and then stole his team-leading seventh bag of the year to take second. After another Panthers error, he managed to reach third with fifth year outfielder Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J., Sayreville War Memorial) at the plate. Still with one out, Yarson would reach home on a wild pitch for the third NJCU run of the afternoon. The Panthers collected another out, but the Gothic Knights would score again before the side was retired. After Piacenza reached on an Old Westbury error, Vaughn delivered his first triple of the season to score Piacenza and make it 4-0.

The fourth would see NJCU knock in another run. With one out, Ricourt got his first hit of the game with a double down the left field line. Old Westbury miscued again, allowing Ricourt to move to third, which then set up senior infielder Garrett Allo (Monroe, N.J., East Brunswick Tech) to notch his eighth RBI of 2024, scoring Ricourt and extending the Green and Gold lead to 5-0.

The Panthers responded with a big inning in the bottom half. They would score four runs on four hits to shave the Green and Gold lead to just one. NJAC Rookie Pitcher of the Week Danny Olear (Cranford, N.J., Cranford) was called upon from the bullpen to record the final out of the fourth. Despite allowing the tying run aboard, he would retire the side with a swinging strikeout, the 10th strikeout of his career.

In the fifth, the Green and Gold were held scoreless, and the Panthers continued their momentum from the fourth, as they would score the tying and leading runs in their half of the inning. Old Westbury held NJCU scoreless for the remainder of the day, while also erupting for six runs in the final third of the game, en-route to a 11-5 victory.

Up Next:
The second game of this road trip for the Gothic Knights will be tomorrow, March 26, as they will head to Newburgh, NY for a rescheduled matchup against the Mount Saint Mary College Knights. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.