The New York University baseball team pulled to within one game of .500 on Saturday afternoon, April 25, with its 9-7 victory over John Jay College at MCU Park in Brooklyn.
NYU (18-19) poured on the offense against the Bloudhounds (2-23), picking up their nine runs on 17 hits. The victory is the Violets' fourth straight, and ninth in the last 10 games.
"I think we need to do the little things a bit better," said NYU Head Coach
Doug Kimbler. "I'll take a 'W' everyday, but it wasn't as clean as I wanted it to be."
Michael Vokulich picked up the victory on the mound for the Violets to improve to 5-1 on the season. The freshman tossed 6.1 innings, struck out two, walked one, and was charged for five earned runs.
Jarret Weiss entered in relief for 1.1 scoreless innings and then handed the ball off to closer
Matthew Millus, who also tossed 1.1 innings for his sixth save of the year.
John Jay started off the afternoon with the advantage, scoring one run in the top of both the second and third innings.
It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth that the Violets were able to muster some offense and tie the game at 2-2. After a pair of walks and a hard-hit single,
Billy Griffo came to the plate with the bases loaded and just one out. The rookie third baseman knocked a single down the left field line to plate
Jonathan Iaione from third.
David Wagner followed Griffo with an RBI his own as Vokulich scored on the sacrifice fly.
The Violets would score five more in the home half of the sixth to take a commanding 7-3 lead. John Jay came back with three runs in the next half inning and pulled within 7-6. The home team scored one more in each of the next two innings to take the 9-6 lead. The Bloodhounds did score one more in the ninth on an error, but Millus hung on for the save in the 9-7 NYU victory.
NOTABLES: -
Christian Bloom was 4-for-5 with one run scored and two doubles..
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Jeremy Wayne was 3-for-4, also with a run scored and two doubles.
- Vokulich had a nice day with the bat, going 2-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and an RBI.
- Iaione was 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and a double.
"In the end, we pitched well enough to win, hit well enough to win and fielded well enough to win," concluded Kimbler.
NYU will return to the field tomorrow, Sunday, April 26, for a scheduled 12:00 pm home doubleheader at MCU Park against the College of Staten Island. Sunday is also Family Day for the Violets.
