A DIII Shortstop earns Gotham College Player of the Week honors, and Fordham rolls through week 3 behind some hot hitting.
Army (0-3, 2-8)
The Black Knights were still without Cole White, and the results continued to be disappointing, as Army was swept by Liberty, 11-5, 13-7, 15-7, in a three-game set in Virginia. The Cadets face Seton Hall in a mid-week game Wednesday before heading to Florida for their annual trip, including three games against Massachusetts in Tampa, at the Yankees minor league camp.
Columbia (0-4, 0-8)
The Lions traveled to California for a four-game series with 29th ranked Pepperdine, and came away on the short end of 7-1, 7-3, 5-2, 9-0 scores. Columbia has lost been swept by both Duke and the Waves to open the season.
Fairleigh Dickinson (0-4, 2-6)
The Knights swept by Fordham in a four-game series over the weekend in Petersburg, Virginia. John Meadus and Zachary Kisling limited the Rams to six hits and two runs, but lost a heartbreaker, 2-1, in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader.
Fordham (5-0, 5-5)
The Rams had a perfect 5-0 week at the expense of other Gotham teams, defeating Manhattan 9-3 on Wednesday, and then sweeping four games from Fairleigh Dickinson, 25-10, 2-1, 9-6, 9-6. Ryan McCrann, a transfer from Boston College, was 8-for-17, with five RBI and seven runs scored.
Fairfield (1-4, 2-7)
A rough week in Florida as the Stags split with Western Michigan, losing 9-4, before bouncing back with a 6-5 victory. Fairfield lost the final three games of its Florida trip, failing to Florida Gulf Coast 9-2, Bowling Green 9-0 and Central Michigan, 18-0.
Slugger Peter Allen has just one RBI for the Stags, despite six extra base hits.
Felician (0-3, 3-5)
Home was not sweet, as the Golden Falcons lost a pair of home games to Pace (9-3) and Bryant (15-5) and a road game to Dowling, 10-4. Felician had been 3-2 on its season opening trip down south.
Hoftsra (3-3, 4-6)
The Pride opened conference play in the Colonial on a three-game winning streak, and were promptly swept by William & Mary, 21-6, 2-0, and 7-6. Midweek games saw Hofstra 4-3 in 7 innings, while upsetting Seton Hall 7-2 on Anthony Sarno’s four-hitter. Coppin State fell 9-7 as Hofstra broke the .500 mark. All-America third base candidate Matt Prokopowicz led the Hofstra offense with 8 RBI on the week.
Iona (0-2, 0-6)
Junior shortstop went 4-for-7 as the lone highlight of the week, as the Gaels dropped a pair of games at the Navy Round-Robin Tournament. After losing 8-0 to Central Connecticut State and Rhode Island 11-4, Iona will play a doubleheader on Monday against Navy, before heading back home from the tournament, which was delayed by rain.
Kean (4-0, 5-2)
The Cougars returned to their winning ways this week, taking four contests by a combined 27-7 score. Opening with a 9-2 win over Eastern Connecticut by Joe Bartlinksi, Kean continued its roll through the week with Tom Paglione’s 1-hit, six inning shutout over Albright (game was shortened by rain.). SUNY Brockport visited over the weekend, and were swept in a doubleheader, 8-2 and 4-3. Transfer Bryan Burke is off to a flying start, hitting .524 through the first seven games of the season.
LIU (0-4,0-8)
A 4-3 loss to Hofstra started the Blackbirds week, before they traveled through the MAC, where they dropped an 8-7 decision to Ball State and a pair to Toledo, 20-8, 10-3. Sophomore James Jones has struggled at the start, taking two losses on the mound, while batting just .233 on the season.
Manhattan (2-1, 3-7)
The Jaspers rebounded from their mid-week loss to cross-town rival Fordham with a doubleheader sweep of Maryland-Baltimore County on Sunday in a rain-shortend series. Matt Nevins made his first start of the season, picking up his first win of the season in a 4-3 win in the nightcap. Tom Costigan picked up his first win of the season in the opener, allowing three runs in six innings. Chad Salem had four RBI in the opener to get the Manhattan offense going.
Marist (0-0, 1-5)
Rain cancelled the Red Foxes weekend, as the their three-game set with Marshall was postponed on Saturday afternoon, with no makeup information given.
Montclair State (0-1, 1-2)
The Red Hawks lost one late, dropping a 8-7 decision at Salisbury (Md.) on Sunday.
Monmouth (0-3, 1-5)
A trip to Orlando was not Disney-like, as the Hawks dropped three games to Central Florida, 10-2, 8-4, and 5-4 (in 16 innings). Monmouth fought to stave off the sweep in the finale, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth, and getting six shutout relief innings from closer Justin Esposito. Pinch-hitter Nick Pulsonetti’s two-run homer tied the game, but the Hawks could not push another run across the plate for the win.
New Jersey City University (3-2, 3-2)
Jose Fulgencio continued swinging a hot bat, ripping nine hits in five games as the Gothic Knights started their season in Florida with wins over Becker (8-4), Aurora (3-2) and Muhlenberg (4-2) while losing to Keystone (19-5) and Wittenburg (12-6).
New Jersey Tech (1-1, 2-7)
The Highlanders split a pair of 18-11 decisions with Delaware State, winning the opener behind five solid innings of work by PJ Saporito (5 innings, 4 runs, none earned) and five RBI by Mike Turner on Friday. Sunday, the bullpen collapsed, blowing a 11-10 lead in the eighth, allowing eight runs to fall to 2-7 overall.
Princeton (3-0, 7-1)
The Tigers ran their win streak to seven games, as Princeton defeated Richmond, 8-5, 10-2, 10-7, in a three-game series at Richmond. Jack Murphy drove in three in the first game on Sunday, while the Tigers took advantage of eight Spider errors in the nightcap. Friday saw Tiger starter Stephen Miller pick up the win, holding Richmond to one run in four innings.
Quinnipiac (1-2, 1-2)
The Bobcats finally got their season underway on Saturday, with a 15-10 win over Davidson. Third baseman Tyler Turegon had three hits and six RBI in the loss, while Peter Kummerfeldt chipped in with two hits and three RBI. Quinnipiac lost the nightcap to Davidson 10-7, and lost to Applachian State, 11-4. Kummerfeldt had three more RBI in the loss.
Ramapo (2-0, 3-2)
The Roadrunners swept Coe (10-8, 5-0) to improve to 3-2 on the season. Mike Manges had five hits and six RBI in the doubleheader, while Joey Cacchiola had a pair of hits in each game.
Rider (1-0, 5-2)
A midweek win over Delaware was all the survived the week, as weather took care of the Broncs three-game series with Tennessee Tech. Mike Thomas allowed one run in 3.2 innings of four-hit relief to pick up the win, while Mo Williams had three hits. Sean Olson, Matt McCollum, Nick Wojnowski and John Ralson each chipped in two hits.
Rutgers (1-3, 3-6)
It was a disappointing week for the Scarlet Knights, dropping a mid-week game to Temple and losing two of three to Texas A&M. Rutgers earned a win in the series opener in College Station, 10-8, as Jon Gossard drove in three runs, including two runs in the five-run seventh that gave the Scarlet Knights the game.
Sophomore Casey Gaynor continued his hot start, limiting the Aggies to five hits and two runs in seven innings, but was a hard-luck 2-1 loser, as Rutgers was limited to four hits by Texas A&M. Gaynor is now 1-2, with a 2.82 in three starts, striking out 25 in 22.1 innings.
Rutgers-Newark (1-0, 1-3)
The Scarlet Raiders’ second baseman Matt Connors reached six times as Rutgers Newark defeated Stevens Tech, 7-4, on Sunday. The victory snapped a season-opening three-game losing streak for the Scarlet Raiders.
Sacred Heart (0-5, 0-9)
The Pioneers difficult trip through Texas continued, dropping all five games this week. After blowing an early lead in a difficult 9-8 loss to Houston, Sacred Heart traveled to Stephen F. Austin, dropping 19-5, 13-10, 8-1 and 4-2 decisions.
Saint Peter’s – (0-0, 4-2)
The Peacocks three game set with Lafayette was cancelled due to rain.
Seton Hall (2-2, 5-6)
The Pirates rebounded from a mid-week loss to Hofstra with a series victory at Radford in a series that was impacted by the weekend’s stormy weather. Friday’s game was moved to Saturday, and despite blustery conditions, Seton Hall used a nine-run second inning to take the series opener. Sunday saw the Pirates record a split, as they completed a suspended game, losing 4-3, and rebounding with a 4-3 victory in the nightcap.
Stevens Tech (0-2, 2-6)
The Ducks had a tough week, as rain cancelled two games, and they came out on the short-end of the other two. After dropping a 9-1 decision to Eastern Connecticut, Stevens lost Rutgers-Newark, 7-4 on Sunday.
Stony Brook (2-1, 4-2)
Consider this. Gary Novakowski’s performance, which he held Southeastern Louisiana to just six hits and two runs in 8.1 innings, was the low point of the weekend, as the Seawolfs took two of three games, and established themselves as a team to watch in the America East conference. The Seawolves earned 7-5 and 5-3 victories in the first and third game to earn the series victory. A four-game set with A-10 power UNC-Charlotte awaits the Seawolves this weekend.
St. John’s (2-2, 8-4)
The Red Storm also went west, traveling to California, splitting four games with the Cal State Northridge. Scott Barnes struggled with his control in the series opener, but St. John’s had tied the lead before the bullpen lost the lead late. Colin Lynch had his first struggles of the season, being charged with four runs and the loss in Game 3 of the series. The Red Storm continue to get production from behind the plate as catchers Daniel Benedetti and Joe Witkowski combined nine hits and five RBI in 21 plate appearances.
The College of New Jersey (3-0, 3-0)
The Lions started their trip to Arizona with three impressive wins , defeating Concordia 7-2, Wheaton 12-4, and Webster 8-6. All Gotham shortstop Jeff Toth got off to a roaring start, getting hits in all three games, going 7-for-12, with two home runs, a double, and five RBI, and three walks. Vince Mazzaccaro was just as hot, going 8-for-14 with a triple and seven RBI.
Wagner (1-0, 2-3)
For once, something broke right for Wagner’s ace lefthander Joe Testa, as he shutdown Temple in an 11-3 win in the only game that was not rained out for the Seahawks at the Villanova Classic. Testa allowed five hits and one run in seven innings in evening out his record at 1-1.
William Paterson (1-1, 1-1)
The Mike Lautherhahn era at WPU started with a doubleheader split, as the Pioneers dropped the season opener 7-5, before bouncing back to win the nightcap, 6-4, in a pair of seven-inning games. Mike Guadango had three hits and five RBI for the Pioneers in the doubleheader.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK (ending March 9): Jeff Toth (The College Of New Jersey) - The junior shortstop has taken over the reigns from Gerard Haran and Blake Bullis, and the Lions have not missed the step. Slugging two home runs and driving in five in his first three games, Toth is making his selection as the All Gotham shortstop look good.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK (ending March 9): Anthony Sarno (Hofstra) - Sarno held Seton Hall to two runs and four hits in tossing a complete game as Hofstra upset the Pirates in a mid-week game.
TEAM OF THE WEEK (ending March 9): Fordham - A perfect week, a pair of hot hitters in Ryan McCrann (8-for-19, 7 runs, RBI) and PJ Como (8-for18, 8 runs, 5 RBI) and solid pitching from the starters makes a good week.
Jeff Toth (The College Of New Jersey) -