NEWARK, N.J. — In a game originally scheduled to be played at home, the New Jersey City University baseball team made the best of things by simply winning on the road for the second straight day. NJCU fell behind early to Rutgers-Newark at Weequahic Park on Friday, April 12, but came back to take the lead and held on for the 5-2 victory. The Gothic Knights took two from the Scarlet Raiders in back-to-back days, sweeping the season series for the first time since 2018.

This one once again featured a stellar pitching performance for NJCU (8-15, 3-5 NJAC) as the Gothic Knights — fresh off senior righthander Ali Pompey's (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) dominant performance in yesterday's win — got another flawless start, this time from junior Andre Dean (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield). The righty tossed 6.0 innings with eight strikeouts and allowed two runs on four hits for his team-leading third victory of the season over his six starts so far. He ranks fifth in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) in lowest opponent batting average (.214) and leads NJCU with a 3.29 ERA. Additionally, in his first relief outing of the season, sophomore righthander Dom Yarson (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) came out of the bullpen to throw 3.0 one-hit scoreless innings, striking out three batters to record the first save of his collegiate career.

Rutgers-Newark (15-13, 0-8 NJAC) started things off with a run in the top of the first — NJCU served officially as the home team even though the game was played in Newark — but Dean, despite a couple of fielding errors behind him, limited the damage to just one run. Neither squad made any noise offensively until the Gothic Knights finally struck in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, a balk allowed Yarson and freshman catcher Enrique Beltra (Monroe, N.J./Ranney) to advance to second and third, respectively. Hot-hitting junior designated hitter John Abrahamsen (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township), who blasted his second-career homer in yesterday's win, drilled a two-run single through the right side to score both runners and put NJCU up, 2-1.

With one out in the bottom of the fifth, rookie outfielder Jeremy Ricourt (Perth Amboy, N.J./JFK Memorial) — he leads NJCU in batting (.381) and is riding an 11-game hitting streak — hit his third triple of the season to the gap in right. Freshman first baseman Brandon Piacenza (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) promptly brought him home with a single to left, making it 3-1. Two at-bats later, Beltra knocked in a pair with a two-run double to left to make it 5-1. The rookie utility man leads NJCU with 17 RBI on the season.

Rutgers-Newark got one back in the top of the sixth, but Dean ended his evening with an inning-ending strikeout. Yarson started out with a couple of walks in the seventh, but struck out two of the next three and got another to groundout. He went 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth to lock down his first-ever save.

Highlights:
- Ricourt finished 2-for-4 with that triple and a run scored.
- Piacenza was 1-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI.
- Senior third baseman Garrett Allo (Monroe, N.J./East Brunswick Tech) finished 2-for-4 with a run.
- Beltra was 1-for-3 with a run, two RBI, a double and a walk. He leads the team with 13 free bags.
- Yarson was 1-for-4 with a run at the plate in addition to his work on the mound in relief.
- Abrahamsen was 1-for-3 with two RBI.

Up Next:
NJCU looks to ride the winning wave as the squad hits the road in Ewing, N.J., for a pair tomorrow, April 13, against The College of New Jersey. The Lions and Gothic Knights split last year's doubleheader in Jersey City, thanks in part to a standout complete game pitching performance from Yarson. Game one on Saturday is scheduled for an 11:30 a.m. first pitch.