JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University junior MATTHEW WAGNER (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) had played in 89 games in his three-year Gothic Knight baseball career, primarily as the starting right or center fielder, while pitching only 3.0 innings in a relief role as a collegian and had struggled, with an 18.00 ERA. He had never started a game on the mound in college, and described himself as an occasional starting pitcher in high school. All this makes Wagner's accomplishment on April 7 that much more impressive.
In his first collegiate start at pitcher, Wagner, a right-hander, was sensational, and freshman righty MARK PETRUCELLI (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Queen of Peace) retired all five batters he faced after entering the game with the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the eighth inning for a hard-fought save as NJCU upset first-place Rutgers University-Camden, 4-3, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
The game, a makeup of an April 4 rainout, capped a home-and-home series which opened on April 3 when Camden (13-6-1, 4-2 NJAC) downed the Gothic Knights (8-12, 2-4 NJAC) in Camden, NJ (15-5). The Raptors had their four-game winning streak end while NJCU snapped a three-game skid. On a chilly, windy spring day, threatening skies eventually opened up and the final two-plus innings of the game were played under a steady rain.