HOW SWEEP IT IS! NJCU STUNS MONTCLAIR STATE FOR SECOND TIME IN THREE DAYS, SWEEPS RED HAWKS IN BASEBALL FOR FIRST TIME EVER

HOW SWEEP IT IS! NJCU STUNS MONTCLAIR STATE FOR SECOND TIME IN THREE DAYS, SWEEPS RED HAWKS IN BASEBALL FOR FIRST TIME EVER

LITTLE FALLS, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | In a season of ups and downs for the New Jersey City University baseball team, the Gothic Knights are peaking late in the season with unprecedented results. Senior right-hander WENDELL RODRIGUEZ (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep) hurled a complete-game three-hitter as NJCU won the back-end of a home-and-home New Jersey Athletic Conference series, stunning Montclair State University, 4-2, on Friday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium. In the process, NJCU accomplished something it has never done before in the sport of baseball—sweeping a season series from Montclair State.

NJCU (8-27, 3-13 NJAC), which snapped an 11-game losing streak to Montclair in a 15-3 rout on Wednesday, pounded out 15 hits in the victory and compiled 35 in the three-day, two-game series while defeating MSU (15-14, 7-7 NJAC) on the road for the first time since a 7-5 win in 1999.

In a series that began in 1937, MSU, a school that has won three national championships and a record 16 NJAC titles, leads 98-14-1. MSU suffered its third straight loss and fell into sixth place in the league, with four games remaining prior to the six-team NJAC Tournament. NJCU stranded 14 runners on base in the win.

Senior right fielder JORGE GUTIERREZ (Sewaren, NJ/Hudson Catholic) provided the go-ahead RBI sacrifice fly in the two-run ninth inning as NJCU snapped a 2-2 tie.

Rodriguez, who has pitched brilliantly in several outings this season—most notably a four-hitter in a 1-0 road loss against then #3 ranked Kean University on April 14—entered the game with a truly misleading 1-7 record. In a complete-game, 119-pitch effort, he gave up just three singles and allowed only seven runners to reach base. Rodriguez struck out two, walked two and none of the three MSU hits led to a run as he won his second game of the season.

Six different NJCU players had multiple hits, led by senior first baseman MICHAEL FIORENTINO (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Point Pleasant Beach), who was 3-for-4 with one RBI, and sophomore left fielder ANDREW RIVERA (Edison, NJ/Edison), who also had three hits, batting 3-for-5.

Senior center fielder KEN WITTE (Wantage, NJ/High Point Regional) was 2-for-4 with two runs. Junior shortstop ROB GONZALEZ (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) upped his second-place career hits total to 173, batting 2-for-5. Meanwhile junior catcher FRANCISCO RAMIREZ (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) was 2-for-4 with a run and RBI and Gutierrez, the offensive hero for NJCU in the ninth, was 2-for-4.

Montclair, needing the win to keep pace with Ramapo College and stay more than two points ahead of William Paterson University in the conference standings, used six pitchers to try to find a way to slow down the Gothic Knight bats. Freshman righty Alex Lesch (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) started and went five innings, allowing two runs and seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Junior lefty Sean Hille (Edison, NJ/St. Joseph's, Metuchen) allowed two hits in one inning before freshman lefty Jonathan Torregroza (Bound Brook, NJ/Immaculata) allowed one hit but struck out three batters in the seventh inning. Sophomore righty reliever Jake Campbell (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War) did not allow a run in the eighth but could not get out of the ninth unscathed, taking the loss (0-2) after allowing two runs and three hits. A pair of Montclair relievers would finish the ninth inning.

Montclair State manufactured a run in the bottom of the first as junior right/left fielder Mickey McGraw (Morristown, NJ/Morristown) led off with a walk, moved to second on a sacrifice and to third on a wild pitch before coming home on a sacrifice by junior catcher Kevin Bond (Cedar Grove, NJ/Cedar Grove).

Rodriguez would then shut down the Red Hawks as he retired 10 of the next 11 batters, and over a four-inning stretch only two MSU batters reached base—sophomore left fielder Matt Moreno (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) on a one-out error in the second and Bond on a wicked hop single down the third base line in the fourth. That awkward single by Bond was the Red Hawks' only hit until McGraw had a one-out single in the eighth.

Meanwhile, the Gothic Knights were getting plenty of hits but could not manage any runs against Lesch, the MSU starter, during the first four innings. NJCU would finally get a run to tie it in the fifth as Witte walked with one out, stole second for his 19^th swipe of the season, and scored as Ramirez singled back through the middle, tying the game at 1-1.

NJCU took the lead in the sixth inning, loading the bases with no outs as senior designated hitter JORDAN TETRICK (Delray Beach, FL/Radnor (Pa.)) singled on a 3-2 pitch, Fiorentino was hit by a pitch, and Rivera singled against Hille. Sophomore third baseman BRIAN BUSTILLO (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) came through with a sacrifice fly for a 2-1 lead before Hille got the final two batters to leave the bases full.

Montclair evened the game in the seventh with another manufactured run. This time it was freshman third baseman Cody Pace (Milltown, NJ/Spotswood) leading off with a walk. He stole second and went to third on a sacrifice before scoring on an RBI groundout by sophomore first baseman Jason Chesterman (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield), knotting the game at 2-2.

But in the ninth, NJCU came up with two runs to win it.  Witte led off the inning with a hustle double into left field and Ramirez singled to put runners on the corners. Gutierrez lifted the sac fly to center for the go-ahead run against freshman lefty Anthony Veltri (Moonachie, NJ/St. Mary's (Rutherford) and Ramirez took second as the throw home got away before advancing to third on a passed ball. Ramirez scored a key insurance run as Fiorentino singled through the right side against freshman righty reliever Jesse Campanelli (Rahway, NJ/Rahway) for a 4-2 lead.

Rodriguez made that stand up as he allowed a one-out single in the ninth before retiring the next two hitters—both on 3-2 pitches—to seal the complete-game victory.

NJCU will close its 2011 home schedule and NJAC action on Saturday, April 30 at 11:30 a.m. when it hosts Richard Stockton College in a conference doubleheader at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. Between games, NJCU will honor its seven-player senior class on Senior Day 2011, including Fiorentino, Gutierrez, Tetrick, Witte, second baseman CHRISTOPHER MIRABILE (Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) and starting pitchers JEFF KARCZEWSKI (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West) and WESTLEY LOPEZ (West New York, NJ/Memorial).

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