The New York University baseball team swept John Jay College 6-4 and 5-3 on Tuesday, March 1, during its 2016 home opener at MCU Park in Brooklyn, NY.
In the opening game, making his first collegiate start on the mound, freshman pitcher
Will Jauss settled into a groove after a rough first inning, in which he gave up four runs. He gave up only two hits in 5.0 innings pitched the rest of the way.
Sophomore
Jonathan Iaione led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a walk and a stolen base to begin the Violets' comeback. Next up, junior
Adrian Spitz singled in Iaione to score the Violets' first run. Followed by another RBI single from freshman
Ryan McLaughlin, NYU pulled within two.
Still trailing in the bottom of the fifth, the Violets were able to tie the game on a sac fly from senior captain
CJ Picerni and single from sophomore
Scott Hilbrandt.
The Violets took their first lead on an RBI single from McLaughlin and RBI double from
Jake Smith in the sixth to give the Violets a lead 6-4.
Matthew Millus pitched a scoreless seventh inning to record his first save of the season.
The second game started off very similar as John Jay got out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. However, the NYU offense quickly responded as freshman
Jack Walter led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and stolen base and was brought home on a sacrifice fly by Smith.
Now trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning, Walter singled and again stole second base. Another hit for Smith brought NYU within one. Then, freshman
Colman Hendershot hit an RBI double, tying the game at 3-3.
NYU took the lead 4-3 in the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of John Jay errors. The Violets tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth as they held on to win 5-3.
"After the first inning of both games, our starting pitching was able to settle down," said Head Coach
Doug Kimbler. "Our relief pitching came in and did their job, and with a few timely hits we were able to put together good ballgames."
GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS:- McLauglin went 3-3 with two RBI and one run scored.
- Smith went 3-3 with a RBI and run.
- NYU out-hit John Jay 9-6.
GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS: - Walter went 2-2 with three stolen bases, two runs and two walks.
-
Matthew Wells earned his first win of the season.
- Spitz extended his hitting streak to five games.
"It's always good to get a couple of wins prior to going into your conference tournament," said Kimbler. "It keeps the morale up. As we go further, we look to improve on our mental side of the game."
The Violets return to the field on Sunday, March 6, as they head to Sanford, FL, to take on the University of Rochester in their opening game of the 2016 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship.
