JENKINTOWN, Pa. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University baseball team got big pitching performances from junior left-hander Mike Ramirez (Old Bridge, N.J./Saint Joseph-Metuchen) and sophomore lefty Kyle Kafer (Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown) and combined to outhit Penn State Abington 26-9 in 14 innings as NJCU was impressive in a non-conference doubleheader sweep on March 25, winning 7-1 and 16-2 at Alverthorpe Park. Both games were seven innings.
 
After going 15 days without playing due the weather, NJCU won for the third straight game since Thursday, improving to 4-5 overall. Several players had big days at the plate, led by freshman left fielder Bill Feehan (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro), senior right fielder Joe Coutinho (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) and senior center fielder Nick Ruscingno (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck).
 
Feehan drove in a combined four RBIs, and reached base six times in eight plate appearances, going a combined 4-for-6 with two runs and two walks. Coutinho also reached base six times in eight trips, batting 3-for-5 with three runs and three RBIs. Ruscingno was 4-for-7 in the two games, and notched his 125th career hit.
 
Sophomore shortstop Nick LoGatto (Helmetta, N.J./Spotswood) and junior designated hitter Dan Berardi (Bridgewater, N.J./Middlesex) both homered in game two and senior catcher CJ Pulcine (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) had a three-run triple in the nightcap.

GAME 1: New Jersey City 7, Penn State Abington 1
NJCU scored twice in the top of the first inning and that was all Ramirez needed. He tossed a complete-game five-hitter for his first win (1-1). In 7.0 innings, he allowed no earned runs and five singles, striking out two (three walks). NJCU outhit the Nittany Lions, 11-5. The Gothic Knights turned three double plays in just seven innings.
 
Coutinho was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run while Feehan collected his first collegiate extra-base hit, driving in two runs with a double. Ruscingno scored twice in a 2-for-4 effort and Pulcine was 2-for-3.
 
Abington junior catcher Austin Mikula (Philadelphia, Pa.) was 3-for-3 in the cleanup spot but only two other players had hits. Junior righty Pedro Aldebol (Camden, N.J./Maple Shade) lost (0-5), allowing five runs (one earned) and seven hits.
 
NJCU loaded the bases in the first inning after an error, walk and bunt single. A bases loaded walk by Coutinho and a sac fly by senior second baseman Jeff Reinecke (Middlesex, N.J./Middlesex) made it 2-0. PSA scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first but never crossed the plate again.

NJCU added a single run in the third when Ruscingno singled, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and was driven in on a ground ball by Coutinho. The Gothic Knights put the game out of reach with two runs in the sixth and seventh frames. With two on and two outs, Feehan doubled to center in the sixth to make it 5-1. NJCU had four hits in the seventh when freshman first baseman Lenin Gomez (Edison, N.J./Edison) and Coutinho singled. Gomez scored on an error on a Coutinho stolen base but would have been plated when Pulcine followed with a single. Coutinho later came in on another error prior to a single by LoGatto.
   CJ Pulcine's three-run triple in the third was a back-breaker.
GAME 2: New Jersey City 16, Penn State Abington 2
The Knights posted four runs in the first and third innings and scored in all seven innings as NJCU outhit PSA 15-4 in the most lopsided game of the season. Berardi, Pulcine, Feehan, LoGatto and Ruscingno all produced multi-RBI efforts. The Lions fell to 1-14, losing their eighth straight.
 
After sophomore right-handed pitcher Nate Facey (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) started and threw a strong two innings, allowing one run and three hits with a strikeout, Kafer entered the game in the third inning as NJCU's leveraged starter in its new, unique, pitching format. Kafer was majestic. In his first win of the season (1-0), he struck out seven, walked just two and allowed just one run and one hit in 5.0 innings. The only hit was an RBI double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. All three outs Kafer recorded in the seventh were strikeouts.
 
Feehan was 3-for-3 with two RBIs, a run and a walk while Reinecke added a 2-for-3 effort with two RBIs and a run. Pulcine batted 1-for-2 with two runs and a three-run bases-clearing triple in the third. LoGatto, who hit his first career homer in a road win over Drew on March 23, went yard again, blasting a two-run homer to left in the fifth. He was 1-for-2 with two runs and a walk. Berardi broke out of a slump, unloading on a three-run homer to center in the seventh inning. He also scored twice.
 
Also for NJCU, Ruscingno was 2-for-3 with a walk and run scored and Coutinho walked twice and scored two times, in a 1-for-2 outing. Senior third baseman Zach Buchholz (Colonia, N.J./JFK Memorial-Iselin) was 2-for-2. In all, 20 different players saw time in the rout.
 
The Lions used five pitchers, with senior righty Don Halbruner (Southampton, Pa.) suffering the loss (0-3). He allowed nine runs (seven earned) and seven hits while walking five batters in 3.0 innings.
 
NJCU led 4-0 after the first inning as the Knights collected three hits and took advantage of a pair of errors. Up 2-0, a two-out single to center by Reinecke plated the eventual two winning runs. In the second, LoGatto singled and stole second before being driven in by Feehan's RBI single.
 
Still ahead 5-1 after PSA got a run back in the bottom of the second, NJCU blew the game wide open in the third. Coutinho and Berardi walked, sandwiched around a Reinecke single, and with no one out Pulcine deposited a triple down the right field line for an 8-1 advantage. Feehan later drove in his catcher with an RBI single.
   Dan Berardi kissed his slump goodbye with a three-run homer.
Up comfortably, NJCU plated a 10th run on Coutinho's RBI double in the fourth, and after Pulcine led off the fifth with a walk, LoGatto launched his second career homer. In the sixth, freshman infielder Joe Papamarkos (Lyndhurst, N.J./Paramus Catholic) generated an RBI double in his first official NCAA at bat, making it 13-1 before Berardi belted his sixth career homer with a three-run shot in the seventh.
 
QUOTABLE KNIGHTS:
 
Head Coach Jerry Smith: "I'm proud of our guys and the way we have responded thus far. We have a long way to go but you can tell this is a more experienced group. I think all of us, coaches included, have valued each day and each game more than we did last season. I felt as though things sped up on us a season ago. This season I feel as though we have been more invested into what we need to do to improve each day. We utilized our layoff as best we could and adjusted our preparation. We just must continue to stay the course and remain even keeled."
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: NJCU leads all-time, 5-0.
• Nick Ruscingno upped his career hits total to 125 in 109 games. He moved into 19th place in program history, eclipsing Joe Wells (1978-81, 123 hits), Anthony Squeglia (1986-89, 122 hits) and B.J. Fearon (1994-96, 121 hits) on the all-time list.
• Zach Buchholz has 92 career hits in 107 games.  Joe Coutinho has 91 career hits in 103 games. They look to become the 41st and 42nd members of the NJCU 100 hit club. Currently, five players have joined the 100-hit club in Jerry Smith's six years as head coach, including three of the top six on the list and the No. 1 and No. 2 all-time hitters.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU looks for its fourth win in row and finally plays its first home game at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex after four consecutive postponements on Tuesday, March 28 when the Knights host Baruch College at 3:30 p.m. Follow live stats or watch the live broadcast.