Box Score

Jersey City, NJ … The College of New Jersey baseball team engaged in a back-and-forth battle with New Jersey City University before registering a 10-8 victory in New Jersey Athletic Conference action on Thursday.
 
It was not perfect baseball, but the Lions (19-13, 7-4) did what they needed to come away with a conference victory on the road. TCNJ took the lead on five separate occasions in the game and benefited from ten free passes, but the story of the game was the tremendous offensive production from the bottom third of its line-up.
 
Ed Zakzrewski (Three Bridges, NJ/Hunterdon Central) enjoyed a clutch performance, going three-for-three with four runs batted in and three runs scored. The senior outfielder stroked a single, double, and triple, including the game-winning two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning. Sophomore Joe Dispoto (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) was also key to the win as he delivered a pair of run-scoring doubles and knocked in three runs.
 
Freshman Benito Gonzalez (Perth Amboy, NJ/Princeton) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn his first collegiate victory. Senior Mike Ham (Sparta, NJ/Pope John Paul XXIII) slammed the door shut in the ninth to post his seventh save of the season.
 
The Lions jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second inning. Junior Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) and freshman Jacob Dewitt (Florence, NJ/Florence) singled before Zakrzewski cleared the bases with a two-run triple to left-center field. Dispoto lifted a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 3-1. Junior Scott Kelly (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-North) singled between a pair of walks and senior Jimmy Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberley Academy) knocked in the fourth run with a base hit.
 
The Gothic Knights climbed back into the game with a pair of runs in the third and a run in the fifth. But TCNJ responded with three runs in the sixth. Zakrzewski reached base for the third straight time with a walk. Junior Rob Vafiadou (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) moved him to second base with a bunt, and Dispoto doubled to left field to give his team a 5-4 advantage.
 
Kelly singled and Jonathan Gabriel (Orefield, PA/Parkland) walked to load the bases. Ruzich worked a free pass to force in a run and Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) hit a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 7-4.
 
NJCU would not relent on offense and strung together three hits along with a pair of TCNJ errors to match their run production in the sixth to tie it up 7-7.
 
The teams would against trade punches in the seventh. The bottom of the line-up continued to produce for the Lions as Zakzrewski singled to lead off the inning. Vafiadou dropped down his second sacrifice bunt of the afternoon before Dispoto roped his second run-scoring double of the game.
 
The Gothic Knights quickly retaliated, however, and tied the 8-8 in the bottom of the frame. They threatened to take the lead with runners on first and second and nobody out. Gonzalez entered the game in a tight spot and induced a ground ball to Dewitt, who stepped on third and fired to second to complete a double play. He ended the inning with a harmless fly ball to center to keep the game even.
 
With one out in the eighth, Galeotafiore extended his hitting streak to 13 games and Murphy walked. One batter later, Zakzrewski doubled to right on a 2-2 pitch to drive home the winning runs.
Murphy finished with two hits and two runs scored, while Kelly also had a pair of hits and stole his NJAC-leading 31^st base of the year. Ruzich knocked in two runs and sophomore Brendan Kelly (Butler, NJ/Butler) struck out five in six innings of work.
 
TCNJ continues its home-and-home series with NJCU tomorrow at George Ackerman Park at 3:30 p.m.