PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — The New Jersey City University baseball team traveled out to Long Island today, Tuesday, April 9, for a pair of non-conference seven inning games. The Gothic Knights took on St. Joseph's University-Long Island on the road, but ended up dropping both contests to the Golden Eagles. NJCU fell behind early in game one, tying it up midway through, but St. Joe's used a big hit in the bottom of the fifth to win it, 5-3. Game two saw the Green and Gold jump out to a big-time lead in the top of the third, 6-0, before SJLI eventually came back to win it, 12-7.
Game 1: St. Joe's 5, NJCU 3
NJCU (6-15) worked an early scoring opportunity in the top of the first, getting runners on second and third with two outs, but could not come away with any runs. The Golden Eagles (15-7) answered in the home half with a pair. Neither squad made much noise until the Gothic Knights came knocking for a pair in the top of the fourth.
Rookie first baseman
Brandon Piacenza (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) led off with a walk and then stole second. With one out, he eventually made it to third on a wild pitch before freshman outfielder
Mike Novak (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) knocked him in with a single to left, making it 2-1 at the time. Novak followed by stealing second before pinch-hitting junior
John Abrahamsen (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) reached on a walk — he was then pinch run for with senior
Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic). Another wild pitch put runners on second and third before pinch hitting rookie
Ray Gelok (Clifton, N.J./Passaic Tech) loaded the bases with another walk. Freshman
Jeremy Ricourt (Perth Amboy, N.J./JFK Memorial) made it 2-2 with a sac fly to right, but NJCU was unable to push any more runs across in the inning.
The Golden Eagles then loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fifth before clearing them with a triple to take the 5-2 advantage. The next half inning saw Moreno lead off with a solo shot to left — his second bomb of the season and sixth of his career — to cut it back to 5-3. Unfortunately, the Gothic Knights would not score again in the loss.
Game 2: St. Joe's 12, NJCU 7
Both teams were held off the board in the first, but it was a two-run blast to left from senior catcher
Ricky Tuero (West New York, N.J./Memorial) that struck first, making it 2-0 in the top of the second with two outs — he now has two home runs in his collegiate career. The Gothic Knights then pushed four more across in the top of the third to go up 6-0.
Freshman outfielder Adrian Beltra led off with a walk and then senior third baseman
Garrett Allo (Monroe, N.J./East Brunswick Tech) was hit by a pitch. With one out, sophomore designated hitter
Dom Yarson (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) singled to lead the based. Then, with two outs, Gelok knocked one up the middle to move everyone over one and bring the score to 3-0. Moreno struck again next, hitting a two-run double to the line in left to make it 5-0. A passed ball two at-bats later allowed Gelok to score from third, making it a six-run ball game.
A one-out double for St. Joe's in the bottom half, as well as a two-out double a one at-bat later, cut the lead to four at 6-2. The Golden Eagles then scored four more in the bottom of the fourth on another three-run triple and a fielder's choice to tie it up, 6-6. The home team then scored two on a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth and then four more in the bottom of the sixth via a wild pitch, an error and a sac fly to go ahead 12-6. NJCU got one back via a RBI groundout from Piacenza in the top of the seventh, but that led to a final of 12-7.
Highlights:
- Freshman pitcher
Eddie Patrick (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) pitched one inning in relief in game one, as well as two innings in the start in game two, and finished with 3.0 innings with just two hits, a strikeout and a .182 opponent batting average.
- Tuero finished 1-for-2 with that home run and a walk. Moreno was 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and a run.
- Beltra was 2-for-5 with two runs, three walks and a stolen base.
Up Next:
NJCU is slated to return to action on Thursday, April 11, for New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) road action at Rutgers-Newark. First-pitch between the Gothic Knights and Scarlet Raiders is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
