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Written by Chip Armonaitis
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Tuesday, 18 March 2008 |
 Who was rougher on Gotham’s Division I teams this week, teams from the
Southern power conferences, or the weather? No upsets this weekend, as
Rutgers, who got a win against top 25 programs each of the past three
weekends, struggled, losing all three contests to a program not as
highly regarded, Iowa.
UPDATE - Check out the latest DII and DIII results from around the region!
Player of the Week: Andy Meyers/Kyle Higgins (Monmouth)
You can’t blame Meyers and Higgins for the Hawks 2-3 week, after five multiple-hit games, including a pair of three-hit games, Meyers was 12-for-23 with six runs scored and five runs batted in. Higgins was 12-for-24, and was named the NEC Player of the Week, scoring six runs and driving in five. He had four hits in six at bats in a 7-4 extra inning win over Maine.
Pitcher of the Week: Joe Testa (Wagner)
The Northeast Pitcher of the Week, Testa (right) allowed one hit in six shutout innings, striking out 10, as he improved to 2-1 in a 8-3 victory over St. Peters.
Team of the Week: Fordham
Only St. John’s and Rams won four games, but Fordham gets the edge for its win over Virginia Tech
Weekend Recap
Army (0-3, 2-11)
The Black Knights got some good news this week, as Cole White was able to return to the field, pitching two shutout innings on Wednesday against Seton Hall, and hitting third in the designated hitter spot. The Cadets bullpen, however did not have the same success against the Pirates, as Seton Hall cruised to a 13-2 victory. Sunday, the offense was shut down, as U. Mass held Army to five hits in a 1-0, 7-1 doubleheader sweep. Drew Clothier pitched 6.2 innings of shutout ball in picking up the no-decision in the opener.
Columbia (2-10, 2-10)
A wild weekend for Columbia saw the Lions take two of three from Georgia Southern (the final game of the series was to be played Monday), but also give a record 14 home runs in the second game of the series, a 26-8 defeat. The Lions won the opener 8-5, and bounced back on Sunday with an 11-3 victory. Nick Cooper (9-of-15) and Jason Banos (8-for-16, 7RBI) led the offense, while Geoff Whittaker held Georgia Southern to two runs in six innings in picking up the win on Sunday.
Fairleigh Dickinson (0-2, 2-8)
A pair of losses to St. Mary’s (California) was all the Knights had to show for their first weekend out west, as the first two games of the trip were rescheduled to Monday due to inclement weather. A three-game set for San Francisco is also on the docket for next week, before returning home.
Fairfield (0-4, 2-11)
The Stags early-season woes continued, as Fairfield dropped four games during the week. A 3-2 loss to Sacred Heart made Kevin Fico (3 runs in 7 innings) the hard-luck loser to start the week. After losing to Fordham 9-6, the Stags dropped a pair to St. John’s 14-4, 10-1.
Fordham (4-0, 9-5)
The hottest team in Gotham, the Rams increased their winning streak to nine straight with a wild win over Virginia Tech 13-12, and a victory over Fairfield, and a sweep of a pair of games over Sacred Heart. The Rams will have to wait until Tuesday’s game with NY Tech, as their matchup Sunday with Albany was cancelled due to bad weather. Tom Davis improved to 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA on the season, while shortstop had a pair of three RBI games. Chris Kaible added five RBI to his team-high total of 17, in just 11 games.
 Hofstra (0-5, 4-11)
Another tough week for The Pride (left) in the Colonial Athletic, as Hofstra lost three to UNC-Wilmington in conference play over the weekend. Mid-week losses to Rider (9-7) and St. Peter’s (14-3) began the week for Hofstra, which saw its losing streak reach eight games.
Iona (0-6, 0-12)
The less said about the Gaels week, the better. Swept by Navy (5-0, 11-5) and West Virginia (6-0, 7-2, 12-2, 17-1), Iona had the ultimate insult of having their final two losses stopped because of the run rule.
Long Island University (1-3, 1-11)
The Blackbirds opened the week with a 9-8 loss to St. John’s and 9-5 to LaSalle. The split a weekend series with Temple, wining 11-7 and losing 8-2.
Manhattan (1-2-1, 4-9-1)
A 10-10 tie with SUNY Albany started the week for the Jaspers, trying to right the ship and get back on their “A” game before MAAC conference play begins. A three-game series with Virginia Commonwealth saw Manhattan outscore the Rams, 24-20, but lose two of three.
Ruben Perez and Eric Nieto each had four RBI against VCU Saturday in a 18-10 victory for the Jaspers, as Manhattan’s offense continued to spread the load. Austin Sheffield and Chad Salem each drove in three.
Marist (1-2, 2-7)
Josh Rickards held North Carolina-Asheville to three runs, two earned, in 6.2 innings to pick up the Red Foxes lone win of the weekend, 6-5, on Sunday. Marist dropped the first two games of the series, 5-4 and 11-3, as the UNC-Ashville scored five runs in the first inning of each game.
Monmouth (2-3, 3-8)
The Hawks are still trying to get their pitching straightened out, but the hitting of Kyle Higgins and Andy Meyers certainly are back on course. The Hawks duo each hit in all five of Monmouth’s contests during the week, but the Hawks were only able to go 2-3, as they lost a couple of slugfests – to Florida Atlantic 12-11, and to Duquesne, 11-7.
The week started with a 9-7 win over Penn State, and concluded with a 12-inning, 7-4 victory over Maine. A 6-3 loss to Navy (at the Navy tournament) rounded out the week. Higgins had 10 hits and five rbi, while Meyers had 122 hits and five RBI in getting their Hawks offense back on track.
New Jersey Tech (0-3, 2-10)
The Highlanders are not enjoying their spring trip to West Palm Beach, at least not on the baseball field, as they suffered through an 0-3 week that saw them outscored 39-6 by Rutgers (16-3), Penn (12-1) and Pittsburgh (11-2).
NY Tech (3-0, 4-3)
Shortstop Mike LaLuna had five RBI in three games, as the Bears had a 3-0 week. LaLuna drove in three runs in an 7-5 win over Sacred Heart, and followed it up with two RBI in a pair of wins over Albany, 11-4, 9-8.
Princeton (0-2, 6-3)
The hot-starting Tigers were cooled off by a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina, as home-standing UNC-Greensboro won a pair of games, 7-2 and 10-5 over the weekend. Third baseman Spencer Lucian (5-for-8) swung a hot bat for the Tigers, who began their spring trip on Saturday. After completing the UNC-Greensboro series on Monday, Princeton heads to Chapel Hill to face third ranked North Carolina, before heading for a weekend series at Navy.
Quinnipiac (1-6, 2-8)
When you are not winning, being the busiest team in Gotham is not necessarily a good thing. The Bobcats found that out last week, as they took on a challenging early schedule that lose to East Carolina, Wofford, Duke and NC State in solo games, and two of three to Michigan State. Their 15-10 win over Michigan State was their second win by that score this year, having defeated Davidson in their season opener by that score.
Rider (1-3, 6-5)
Tuesday’s 9-7 won over Hofstra was the lone good news for the week, as the Broncs were swept by Samford over the weekend, 3-1, 9-4, 8-4. Mo Williams (.411) has been off to a hot start for Rider, while Sean Olson leads the team with 11 RBI.
Rutgers (2-2, 5-8)
A disturbing trend is emerging for the Scarlet Knights, after winning the first of a three game series, Rutgers drops the next two. When it happened against Old Dominion, Georgia Tech and Texas A&M, at least it was to ranked teams. Against Iowa, that was not the case. After winning 8-6 on Friday night, the Scarlet Knights dropped the next two games, 9-2 and 16-14. This follows the easy 16-3 victory over NJ Tech on Tuesday. Jon McCue continued his success in mid-week games against the Highlanders, winning his eighth straight decision, spanning two seasons. Jon Gossard was 9-for-16 for the week to pace the Scarlet Knight offense.
Sacred Heart (1-3, 1-12)
Jared Balbach gave up two runs in 5.2 innings, and the bullpen held a one-run lead as the Pioneers defeated Fairfield on Tuesday, giving Sacred Heart its only win of the week, and the season. After a 7-5 loss to NY Tech, the Pioneers dropped a doubleheader to Fordham, 3-1, 8-1, to fall to 1-12.
Saint Peter’s (1-4, 5-6)
You will forgive St. Peter’s if they have nothing nice to say about Philadelphia. The Peacocks suffered through a 1-4 week that included three close loses to team residing in the City of Brotherly Love. After a 14-3 victory sparked by the hitting of Kevin Kallert (3-for-5 rbi) and Mike McGuire (2-for-3, 2 RBI), and the pitching of Chris Innis (5 inn, 1 hit allowed, no runs), the Peacocks lost to Wagner 8-3 before traveling to Philadelphia. A pair of losses to Villanova (4-2, 7-5) and a 7-6 loss to LaSalle over the weekend frustrated the Peacocks after a good start to the season. They finish their trip in Philadelphia with a game against St. Joe’s on Monday,
Seton Hall (2-3, 7-9)
A busy week saw the Pirates kick off their Big East schedule with a road series with South Florida. A two run, eight inning rally in Sunday’s series finale saved the Pirates from losing a trio of close games to the Bulls, eeking out a 3-2 win. USF won the first two games of the series, 6-4, 7-6, as the Bulls roughed up the Hall’s bullpen in sweeping a Saturday doubleheader.
Earlier in the week, the Pirates lost a 5-2 decision to St. Joseph’s, before beating up on Army, 13-2.
Stony Brook (0-3, 4-5)
A much anticipated showdown with A-10 favorite UNC-Charlotte did not turn out well for the Seawolves, swept by scores of 6-1, 23-5, and 13-4.
St. John’s (4-0, 12-4)
The Red Storm continued their strong start with a perfect week, edging LIU 9-8, defeating Albany 9-2, and winning the first two games against Fairfield before wet weather cancelled the finale. The Red Storm continued to get strong pitching, as the George Brown and Justin Gutsie each picked up their third win.
Tim Morris had six hits in 10 at bats, while driving in eight runs, as the Red Storm enjoyed a well-balanced attack. Paul Karmas drove in seven and Greg Hopkins had nine hits and 19 at bats as the Red Storm scored 42 runs in four games.
Wagner (2-0, 4-3)
It has been a while since Gotham Baseball has been able to be positive on Wagner baseball. But at 4-3, and over .500 for the first time in three years, the Seahawks are looking good early. Vin Avella had two RBI to lead Wagner to a 5-3 victory over Villanova, and Joe Testa threw six innings of one-hit ball against St. Peter’s in a 8-3.
***
DII & DII UPDATE!
Fear not, college baseball fans, Gotham Baseball has not forgotten the Division II and III schools. We’ve decided to break them out on their own this week, to see if the recaps are not as overwhelming, since there will be fewer teams in each of the recaps to read, rather than one VERY LONG one.
Each week we will try to add more teams to the recap. Please remember, there are 61 collegiate teams playing Division I, II or III baseball in Gotham, with the potential of 350 to 450 games per week.
Player of the Week: Rob Gawlack (The College of New Jersey)
The great thing about trips out west and down to Florida is that you get to play lots of games. And Gawlack took advantage, ripping 16 hits in 34 at bats in eight games, and driving in 17 runs during the week. That is a season’s worth of production crammed in one week.
Pitcher of the Week: Joe Bartlinski (Kean)
A two-hitter over seven innings, his third straight impressive performance, gives the Kean starter the award. Bartlinski improved to 3-0, with a 1.89 ERA, with 32 strikeouts in 19 innings.
Bloomfield (0-2, 6-12)
With just two games last week, it was a slow, but unsuccessful week, as the Deacons lost a pair of games, 14-9 to West Chester, and 5-2 to Dowling.
Dominican (0-4, 2-6)
A 7-1 loss to Penn, a division I program started the week for the DII Chargers, and 6-0, 6-5 losses to Franklin Pierce did not lift spirits much. Nova Southeastern ended a rough week in Florida for Dominican with a 17-6 loss.
Kean (4-1, 9-3)
The defending National Champions had a great start to the week as a the Cougar pitching staff competed in a game of can you top this. Andrew Cupido held FDU-Florham to three hits and no runs in 6.2 innings during a 6-1 Kean win to start off the week. Nick Cesare shut down Centenary 7-1, allowing an unearned run in six innings, striking out seven. Joe Bartlinski continued his streak of good starts, allowing two hits in seven innings to the University of LaVerne. (Please hold all “Shirley jokes” to the end please.) A split against Chapman, with an ugly 19-2 loss in the opener, kept the Cougars from a perfect week both in the standings and on the field.
Montclair State (0-3, 1-5)
A bad weekend for the Red Hawks, who lost a wild one-run decisions, 12-11 to Wisconsin-Lacrosse and a pair of ugly ones, 13-2 to Wheaton and 9-4 to Suffolk.
New Jersey City University (1-7, 4-10)
Jose Fulgencio extended his hit streak to 40 games before it was stopped in the final game of the week against Farmingdale. But Fulgencio’s streak was the lone high spot of the weekend as the Gothic Knights lost six in a row and seven of eight. Swept by Wheaton and Farmingdale in doubleheaders, and dropping single games to Coe and Penn State Abington, the only good news was a doubleheader split with the College of Staten Island.
Pace (3-2, 7-3)
Matt Rigoli and Jack Cawley’s offense sparked the Setters to a 3-2 record, with victories over Purchase and New Haven, while losing two of three to Wilmington.
Ramapo (5-2, 8-4)
John Lightbody saved three straight games for Ramapo, earning the NJAC Rookie Pitcher of the Week Award, and help the Roadrunners to a 5-2 Florida trip. In wins against Westfield State, Transylvania, and Messiah, he logged a combined four innings while surrendering just three hits and no earned runs for three saves in a four-day span. He notched a combined eight strikeouts in the three appearances while surrendering just two walks.
Rutgers-Newark (2-3, 3-6)
Matt Connors earned NJAC Rookie of the Week honors for the second consecutive week after hitting .391 (9-for-23) with two RBI and three runs scored during five contests for the Scarlet Raiders. Hitting safely in three-of-four games including a 3-for-5 performance with a RBI and a run scored in an 11-1 win over No. 12 Eastern Connecticut during the Raiders’ Spring Trip to California. He wrapped up the week by going 4-for-5 with two runs scored in Newark’s 13-7 victory over No. 19 Redlands.
Stevens Institute of Technology (0-2, 2-8)
The Ducks were roughed up on Sunday by the number 1 team in Division III baseball, as Wooster rolled to a 26-6 victory in Port Charlotte, Florida. Earlier in the week, Stevens dropped a 5-3 decision to Old Westbury in Hoboken.
The College of New Jersey (6-2, 9-2)
Led by the sizzling bat of senior catcher Rob Gawlack, the Lions were perfect except for a doubleheader loss to Keene State on Saturday. Gawlack hit safely in seven-of-eight contests including a 4-for-5 performance with a double and two RBI in an 8-3 victory over No. 3 Cortland. He also knocked in at least one run in seven-of-eight games and produced four multiple-RBI games including a 2-for-5 performance with a double and five RBI in an 8-7 loss to Keene State.
William Paterson (3-2, 4-4)
Pitching was in short supply early in the week as the Pioneers split a pair of high-scoring affairs, dropping a 17-13 decision to Union, before bouncing back against Calvin, 22-8. A doubleheader sweep over Western New England, 2-1 and 9-4, and a loss to third-ranked SUNY Cortland, 12-5.
Vin Ganz had eight hits and six RBI to lead the WPU attack.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 19 March 2008 )
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