JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The New Jersey City University baseball team used several huge offensive outbursts to put up 20 runs on Friday afternoon, March 18, as the Gothic Knights opened up the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex for the 2022 season. NJCU defeated St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn, 20-5, the most runs scored by Jersey City in nearly five years, dating back to when the squad scored 21 runs in a win at Mount Saint Mary College on March 30, 2017.

Six different Gothic Knights (4-5) notched at least two runs batted in on the day and a total off 11 players recorded at least one hit as the NJCU bats came alive against the Bears (2-7). Senior righthander John Pudder (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) got the nod on the bump for Jersey City and went 5.0 innings, striking out seven and allowed five earned runs in the win, which improved him to 2-0 on the young season. The three pitchers who followed him in relief — a trio of juniors in Ronnie Wallraff (Hillside, N.J./Hillside), Julian Fernandez (Union, N.J./Union) and Frank Shipman (Edison, N.J./Edison) — combined for 4.0 scoreless innings, one hit and five strikeouts to nail down the big non-conference victory.

Offensively, senior center fielder Ricky Voss (Eatontown, N.J./Monmouth Regional) had a DAY at the plate — he finished 3-for-4 and was just a home run shy of his first-career cycle, adding two RBI, a walk, a sac fly and four runs scored. Junior left fielder Bryan Fernandez (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) also went 3-for-4 on the afternoon, adding three RBI and two runs. NJCU scored six runs in the bottom of the first and then had five-run innings in the sixth and eight. During that sixth inning, Voss led off with a double and then junior third baseman Jimmy Vizzoni (Hamilton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) notched his lone hit of the day — a dinger (second of his career, first of the season) — to deep left for the two-run shot. Up next, senior catcher Mitchell Leslie's (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Tech) double to center came inches shy of making it back-to-back long balls. However, red-hot rookie first baseman Matt Kaliske (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) had no qualms about joining in on the party and proceeded to launch the first blast of his collegiate career, a two-run shot over the leftfield wall to make it 14-5 at the time.

Overall, Vizzoni was 1-for-2 with three RBI, a walk, a sac fly and two runs scored. Kaliske, who's batting average actually dropped from .522 to .519 on the day, went 2-for-3 with three RBI and scored twice. Leslie also had a couple of hits, going 2-for-3. He was also hit by two pitches, stole a base, had a sac fly, one RBI and scored twice. Sophomore middle infielders Ali Pompey (Belle Meade, N.J./Trenton Catholic) and Justin Moreno (Brooklyn, N.Y./Trenton Catholic) each factored into the win, as well. Pompey was 1-for-3 with two RBI, a walk and a run, while Moreno was 2-for-5 with a run.

After St. Joe's scored the first run of the game in the top of the first, the Gothic Knights got things going in the home half with a six-spot. Junior right fielder Josh Hernandez (Lake Worth, Fla./Park Vista Community) led off with a triple to the gap in right before scoring in the next at-bat via a Voss single to left. Later, with the bases loaded, Kaliske hit a one-run single to center to make it 2-1. Then, Fernandez plated two with a double to center, making it 4-1. Pompey next had a RBI groundout to second, followed by a run-scoring fly ball from rookie designated hitter Nick Vaughn (Ocean Township, N.J./Ocean Township) to make it 6-1.

NJCU then scratched across a run on a sac fly from Vizzoni in the bottom of the second. After the Bears made it 7-2 in the top of the third, Jersey City scored three in the home half to make it 10-2. Pompey kicked it off with a one-run double to right, followed by an error at first that scored allowed him to score in the next at-bat. Finally, Voss launched a one-out fly ball to right to score the 10th run for NJCU.

After two full scoreless innings, St. Joe's scored three in the top of the sixth to chase Pudder, but again NJCU answered. The Green and Gold exploded for the aforementioned five-running inning in the bottom of the sixth, thanks to jacks from Vizzoni and Kaliski. Sophomore David Duran (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) also notched a RBI with a single to right to make it 15-5.

Then, after a scoreless inning-and-a-half, the Gothic Knights closed out the day offensively with five more in the bottom of the eighth. With runners on first and second, Moreno singled to center, but the ball was muffed, allowing freshman Salvatore Verlingo (Nutley, N.J./St. Mary) to score all the way from second on the play. In the next at-bat, freshman John Abrahamsen (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) popped out to the shortstop in shallow left field, which allowed Duran to score from third. Leslie then hit a one-out sac fly to left to plate Moreno. Finally, sophomore D.J. Dekis (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) closed out the afternoon with a two-run double to left-center to score Voss and junior Jon Taylor (Englewood, N.J./Dwight Morrow), making it 20-5.

Up Next:
Jersey City is scheduled to return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, March 19, for one non-conference game in Purchase, N.Y., against Manhattanville College. First pitch between the Gothic Knights and Valiants — weather permitting — is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the two programs since all the way back on April 3, 2008 (a 12-10 barn-burning Mville win).