Baseball

D'Andrea, Bartlinski Send Kean Past NJCU, 14-3 

UNION, N.J. (4/20/07) - Freshman Joe Bartlinski (South Amboy, N.J.) tossed eight strong innings while senior Joe D'Andrea (Hamilton, N.J.) drove in three as fifth ranked Kean University defeated visiting New Jersey City University, 14-3, Friday afternoon at Jim Hynes Stadium.

The win improves Kean's record to 23-5 overall, with a 10-2 mark in the NJAC.  The loss drops NJCU to 13-17 overall and 2-10 in conference action.

The Gothic Knights took the game's first lead.  In the first inning junior Jose Fulgencio (Bronx, N.Y.) delivered a two run shot over the right-centerfield wall to extend his hitting streak to 20 games.  One inning later catcher Alex Mena (North Bergen, N.J.) recorded a one out sacrifice fly to give NJCU a 3-0 lead.

The Cougars responded in the bottom of the fourth, pounding out five runs and five hits.  D'Andrea got things going with a two RBI double, while junior Maikel De La Rosa (Newark, N.J.) tied things up with an RBI single up the middle.  De La Rosa would eventually score the go-ahead and winning run on a wild pitch.

Kean didn't stop there, tacking on three more runs in the fifth and five in the sixth. 

Bartlinski improved to 3-0 with the win.  He allowed three runs and five hits while also striking out nine and walking two.  Junior Baldwin Vargas (New York, N.Y.) suffered the loss for NJCU.  He allowed nine runs, eight earned, and 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings. 

Offensively for the Cougars D'Andrea was 2-for-2 with a double, triple, three RBI and three runs scored.  Junior Derek Gianakas (Edison, N.J.) was 3-for-5 while sophomore Mike Shymanski (Edison, N.J.) was 3-for-3 with three runs scored.  Juniors Dan Mattonelli (Hamilton, N.J.) and De La Rosa were each 2-for-3 with two RBI.

For the Gothic Knights, Ruben Borges (Union, N.J.) had two hits in the loss.

Kean will host Richard Stockton College on Saturday, April 21^st in their first home doubleheader of the season, first pitch slated for noon.