SOURCE: http://www.njcugothicknights.com/news/2017/4/12/201704-12_BASEBALL_vs_St_Joseph_Brooklyn.aspx

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior right fielder Joe Coutinho (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) (Colonia, N.J./Colonia)'s second double of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in senior second baseman Jeff Reinecke (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) as the tandem doubled back-to-back with one out in a 5-5 game and the New Jersey City University baseball team walked off winners over St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn), 6-5, in a non-conference makeup game on April 12 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
NJCU, playing for the fifth day in a row, has now logged 71 innings of baseball and eight games in a scheduled backlogged by 15 postponements, yet the Gothic Knights improved to 9-11, winning for the second day in a row and the third time in the last four outings. The Bears fell to 9-13. NJCU prevailed despite being outhit, 11-6, as it took advantage of seven walks.
 
Coutinho, who also doubled off the base of the left field fence in the fifth inning to give NJCU a 5-2 lead, paced the Knights with three RBIs, two doubles and a walk in a 2-for-4 effort in the No. 3 spot in the lineup. Reinecke, who slid up to second in the lineup due to injuries, rewarded his coaches for that decision, going 3-for-5 with two runs and a double.
 
Senior third baseman Zach Buchholz (Colonia, NJ/John F. Kennedy Memorial-Iselin) (Colonia, N.J./JFK Memorial-Iselin) scored twice out of the leadoff spot. He walked twice and was hit by a pitch. Senior catcher CJ Pulcine (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) had a two-run RBI single with two outs in the fourth inning to give the hosts a 3-2 lead, and he finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jose Ortiz (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) (Perth Amboy, N.J./Perth Amboy) came into a 5-4 game in the top of the eighth, facing a jam with the bases loaded and no outs. While he couldn't preserve the lead, he coaxed an inning-ending double play to Reinecke, then stranded the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth to claim the victory. In 2.0 innings, Ortiz (1-0) allowed one hit and walked one over 30 pitches.
 
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Anthony Zicaro (Linden, NJ/Linden) (Linden, N.J./Linden) pitched well in a starting role and went 7.0 innings but received a no-decision. He struck out three, walking four over 94 pitches.
 
St. Joseph's was led by sophomore catcher John Condon (Oceanside, N.Y.) with a 4-for-5 effort and two runs while sophomore third baseman Adam Schwartz (Staten Island, N.Y.) was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman second baseman Michael Gonzalez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and senior left fielder Anthony DeFillippo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each had two RBIs and DeFillippo walked twice. Sophomore right fielder Anthony Camerada (Staten Island, N.Y.) walked twice.
 
After SJCBK starter Joseph Titta (Staten Island, N.Y.) was chased after 5.0 innings, NJCU was held off the scoreboard for the sixth, seventh and eighth innings against three relievers, before getting to senior lefty Jim Kennedy (Stroudsburg, Pa.) with one out in the ninth in his second inning of work. He lost (0-1), allowing one run and two hits with a strikeout.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Scoreless entering the bottom of the third, NJCU struck first when Buchholz was hit by a pitch with one out, stole second, and scored on a single to left center by Reinecke.
 
In the second, SJCBK answered with two runs for a 2-1 lead. Condon and Camerada singled and Schwartz doubled to tie it. A ground ball by Gonzalez made it 2-1. Zicaro got out of bases-loaded trouble with a strikeout.
 
NJCU responded in the fourth. Junior first baseman Dan Berardi (Bridgewater, NJ/Middlesex) (Bridgewater, N.J./Middlesex) and freshman left fielder Bill Feehan (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro) (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro) both walked and scored on a two-out single to left center by Pulcine for a 3-2 lead. NJCU got more in the fifth. Buchholz walked again, Reinecke singled and both came home when Coutinho doubled off the base of the left field fence for a 5-2 lead and two RBIs.  Jeff Reinecke scored the winning run after doubling with one out.
 
SJCBK got a run back in the sixth. Schwartz doubled and scored on a sac fly by DeFillippo. Down two entering the eighth, the Bears evened it. After two singles and a walk, Gonzalez and DeFillippo walked in consecutive plate appearances to tie the game, 5-5, with no outs. After Ortiz walked the first batter he saw, DeFillippo, on a 3-2 pitch, he settled down. Ortiz forced a pop out to second and on a 3-2 pitch, got a timely ground ball to Reinecke to induce an inning ending 4-6-3 double play with the bases load.
 
On a day NJCU turned two double plays, it was a tremendous defensive play in the top of the ninth by sophomore shortstop Nick LoGatto (Helmetta, NJ/Spotswood) (Helmetta, N.J./Spotswood) that stole the show. With one out, the Bears drove a hard hit ball towards short that caromed off the outfield grass to make it even more difficult. But LoGatto wowed the crowd as he grabbed the ricochet and from the edge of the outfield grass and with his momentum carrying him towards third, made an incredible throw across the diamond for the second out. That proved to be a big play as Condon doubled down the right field line, skipping the fence for a ground-rule, before he was stranded at second after a fly ball out.
 
Still deadlocked at 5-5 with one out in the bottom of the ninth, Reinecke doubled down the right field line as the ball skimmed the chalk. Coutinho came up and ripped a 1-1 pitch deep over the head of the SJCBK center fielder, driving in Reinecke for the walkoff celebration.
 
QUOTABLE KNIGHTS:
Facebook Live postgame interview with Joe Coutinho (Colonia, NJ/Colonia):https://www.facebook.com/NJCUGothicKnights/videos/10154778061099915/
 
OF NOTE:

• Senior center fielder Nick Ruscingno (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) missed his first game of the season (injury).
• Joe Coutinho (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) had just 11 doubles in his first three seasons and 95 games but has put it together this season, now with nine doubles and a career-high 23 RBIs—one more than his previous season high of 22 in 2015—in just his 19th game of the season.  
• Joe Coutinho (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) now has 109 hits in 114 games. He moved into 33rd place in school history, passing Tom Burke (108 hits, 2008-10) and Paul Grasso (107 hits, 1991-93) on the hits list.
• Zach Buchholz (Colonia, NJ/John F. Kennedy Memorial-Iselin) now has 103 career hits in 118 games and is 40th on the career list.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU is home for the third day in a row on Thursday, April 13 at 3:30 p.m. when it faces defending New Jersey Athletic Conference champion Ramapo College in the opening game of a two-day home-and-home series. Follow the live broadcast and live stats.