GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior right-hander KEVIN DEMAURO(Kearny, NJ/Kearny) fired a complete-game five-hitter and freshman second baseman NICK RUSCINGNO (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck), freshman left fielder ERIC GIORDANO (Metuchen, NJ/JFK-Iselin) and junior center fielder MICHAEL MARTUCCI (Bayonne, NJ/Saint Peter's Prep) each had big run-producing days at the plate as New Jersey City University shutdown host Gwynedd Mercy University, 9-1, in non-conference baseball on April 29. Leading 2-1 in the sixth, the Gothic Knights put the game away with five runs in the seventh.
Ruscingno extended his hitting streak to a team season-best 14 games while continuing his mid and late-season surge. Batting just .129 on April 5, the rookie has increased is average more than 200 points and is now hitting .349 after driving in three runs while batting 2-for-5. Giordano upped his hitting streak to 12 games as he reached base four times—finishing 2-for-3 with two RBIs, two runs and a pair of walks.
NJCU (11-25) snapped a five-game losing skid while ending the Griffins (18-13-1) three-game winning streak and avenging a 7-1 home loss to the Colonial States Athletic Conference school in 2013. The game was played under a cold, windy, nagging rain.
DeMauro earned his fourth win of the season while outpitching GM junior ace and righty Matt Rakus (Sewell, NJ/St. Augustine). In his second complete game of the season and third of his career, DeMauro (4-5) allowed just one fifth-inning run and five hits with six strikeouts and three walks over 128 pitches. Four of the five hits were doubles but DeMauro limited the scoring opportunities while grabbing his eighth career win.
DeMauro picked a runner off second base after a two-out double in the bottom of the first inning. His fifth pickoff of the season was NJCU's 17th as a team this year, establishing a new single-season record, surpassing the 2013 club which tallied 16. Meanwhile, DeMauro tied former teammate WENDELL RODRIGUEZ' career record of nine pickoffs.