JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | For the second straight day, the New Jersey City University baseball team struggled on the mound in the early innings as cross-Hudson rival Stevens Institute of Technology scored 15 runs in the first two frames, including 10 runs in the second inning, and after a 59-minute lightning delay, fended off the Gothic Knights, 18-8, in non-conference action on April 22 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
Stevens (22-10) won its seventh consecutive game, pounding out 19 hits, but only three that went for extra bases. NJCU (12-18) lost its third straight. NJCU threw eight pitchers in the game but only two had effective outings.
The Ducks led 5-2 after one inning before putting the game away when 14 batters stepped to the plate in the second. In a game that started 90 minutes early in an effort to fit in baseball around the forecast, by the time the delay was lifted the Ducks' bats had been cooled. But NJCU, which scored six times in the middle innings, had fallen too far behind to make a legitimate comeback bid.
Five different players had multiple RBIs for the Ducks, but it was sophomore designated hitterZeph Walters (Diamond Bar, Calif.) who made the biggest impact, batting 3-for-5 with five RBIs, three runs scored and a pair of extra-base hits. He had two hits in the second inning, including a two-run ground-rule double and later added a three-run homer in the eighth.
Senior first baseman Alex Weinstein (Colonia, N.J./JFK-Iselin) continued to swing a hot bat for NJCU, driving in three runs—a two-run single in the first inning to make it a three-run game and another RBI single in the fifth—and finished 3-for-5.
Senior shortstop Michael Martucci (Bayonne, N.J./Saint Peter's Prep) continued his pursuit of the program's all-time hits record, batting 3-for-4 with two runs (walk, RBI, 31st career double) while extending his consecutive games on-base streak to 27—the third longest known such streak in school history and second longest this season after teammate and sophomore left fielder Eric Giordano (Metuchen, N.J./JFK-Iselin) had a 38-game streak end on April 16.Martucci also upped his second-place career hits total to 187 in 140 games—now nine shy of matching the program's all-time mark of 196 by Rob Sumner (2005-08).
Senior right-handed pitcher Kevin DeMauro (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) didn't have his best effort but by being the third NJCU pitcher used in the first inning, he became the program's all-time leader in pitching appearances with 53, passing former teammate Wendell Rodriguez at 52 (2010-13).
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