JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University held No. 11/14 ranked Rowan University's potent bats in check for more than five innings before the Profs scored four times in the sixth inning—highlighted by a three-run home run—and overcame NJCU, 5-1, in the second game of a New Jersey Athletic Conference baseball home-and-home series on April 18 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
First-place Rowan (22-6, 9-3 NJAC) won its seventh consecutive game while sweeping the two-day series after the Profs won the opener in Glassboro on April 17, 16-1. NJCU (9-17, 3-9 NJAC) dropped its fifth straight. The Profs entered the contest ranked No. 11 by D3baseball.com and 14thin the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Division III Top 30 poll. Rowan has won the last 10 meetings since 2010.
The biggest hit on the day came by junior first baseman Rich Powelson (Shamong, NJ/Seneca)with two outs and two men on in the sixth when he drove a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead. It was his second homer of the season.
That was more than enough to assist junior right-handed pitcher Dylan Johannink (Medford Lake, NJ/Shawnee) who went 8.0 shutout innings, scattering four hits while firing 13 strikeouts and two walks over 113 pitches. Johannink struck out four of five between the end of the second and end of the third innings, then K'd four in a row at the end of the sixth and start of the seventh. He struck out two more batters in the eighth before departing.
NJCU junior left-hander DELIO COUTINHO (Colonia, NJ/Colonia), the NJAC's strikeout leader entering the day with 59, struck out two batters in each of the first three innings but ran into trouble in the sixth, and suffered his second loss (3-2). In 5.2 innings he allowed four runs and seven hits with the six strikeouts and five walks.
Rowan tallied 11 hits, led by Powelson who finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs. Junior right fielder Ryan Pavlik (Blackwood, NJ/Highland Regional) reached base all five times he stepped up. The leadoff batter was 3-for-3 with four stolen bases, two walks and one RBI.