JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior center fielder MICHAEL PATTERSON (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) batted 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a key outfield assist and sophomore left-hander ZACK MARKLE (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken) allowed just one run in his first career start as New Jersey City University moved back above .500 with a 4-3 win over John Jay College in a non-conference baseball game on Tuesday at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
A year after NJCU (8-7) and John Jay (4-18) played a game that had a combined 47 runs in a 26-21 Gothic Knight victory, Tuesday's contest was more pitching oriented.
NJCU scored single runs in the second, fourth, sixth and seventh innings and led 4-1 heading to the ninth. John Jay scored twice to make it a one-run game before its losing streak was extended to five straight when the game ended on a double play.
Patterson, whose bat had gone cold in NJCU's first five northern games since returning home from Florida, entered the game with just two hits in his last 16 at bats after starting the year as the club's leadoff and number two hitter. He flourished in the No. 6 spot in the lineup, collecting two singles, a double and a walk in his four plate appearances, while throwing out a runner at the plate in the third inning.
Meanwhile, reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference and New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Division II/III Rookie Hitter of the Week and right fielder MATTHEW WAGNER (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, knocking in NJCU's first two runs of the game.