Baseball

Bartlinski, Cougars Power Past #9 Eastern Connecticut, 9-2

Piscataway, N.J. (3/3/08) - Sophomore righty Joe Bartlinski (South Amboy, N.J.) fanned 13 over seven innings to pick up his first win of the season as #3 Kean University defeated #9 Eastern Connecticut State University, 9-2, Monday afternoon at Bainton Field at Rutgers University.

The Cougars improved to 2-2 with the win while the Warriors (0-1) picked up the loss in their first game of the 2008 season.

Kean got things started in their first at-bat as senior Maikel De La Rosa (Newark, N.J.) tripled to leftfield and scored soon thereafter.  After trading runs in the second inning, the Cougars opened things up by plating three runs in the bottom of the fourth.  Senior catcher Kevin O'Neill (Union, N.J.) drove in sophomore Nick Nolan (Linden, N.J.) as he bunted for a single near the third base hole.  De La Rosa then recorded his second triple of the game to bring home O'Neill, followed by an RBI single by senior Eric Ammirata (Hamilton, N.J.).

KU sealed the game in the eighth as senior Bryan Burke (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) picked up a triple of his own to lead off the inning.  Senior Ryan Clark (Livingston, N.J.) registered an RBI single followed by successful small ball to record the game's last run. 

On the mound, Bartlinski (1-0) notched a career-high 13 strikeouts in his first win of the year.  He also allowed two runs and five hits.  Junior Brandon Aich (Sayreville, N.J.) (pictured left) earned his first save of the season after tossing two scoreless innings, fanning three.

Offensively, Ammirata was 3-for-5 with two RBI while De La Rosa was 2-for-4 with two triples, two runs scored and two RBI. 

For the Warriors, shortstop Melvin Castillo (Danbury, Conn.) finished the day with a 3-for-3 performance.

Stay turned to the Cougars website for updates regarding the schedule for later in the week.