Baseball

#1 Cougars Cruise Past #6 Stockton, 14-2

Union, N.J. (5/1/08) - The Kean University baseball team plated runs early and later cruised to a 14-2 victory over Richard Stockton in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) First Round Tournament action, Thursday afternoon at Jim Hynes Stadium.

The #1 seeded Cougars improve to 31-9 overall while the #6 seeded Ospreys fall to 22-14.  Kean will advance to take on #3 The College of New Jersey on Saturday, May 3^rd at 2 p.m. when the tournament shifts to Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark, N.J.  Richard Stockton will face #2 Montclair State at 10 a.m.

Kean got two runs in the bottom of the first as senior Bryan Burke (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) crossed the plate on a double-steal as senior Derek Gianakas (Edison, N.J.) took second.  Gianakas would come around and score as sophomore Mike Moceri (Yardville, N.J.) singled to center.

KU took control of the game with a four-run second.  Senior Maikel De La Rosa (Newark, N.J.) got things going with a one-out, two RBI single up the middle.  After moving around the bases, De La Rosa would later score on an Osprey miscue, one of six in the game.  Senior Eric Ammirata (Hamilton, N.J.) (pictured right) rounded out the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the inning.

Junior Colin Feneis (Spotswood, N.J.) earned the win for the Cougars.  Feneis (3-3) allowed just one run in seven innings.  He struck out seven and walked two.  Joe Mihalyi (Hamilton, N.J.) suffered the loss for the Ospreys.  He allowed six runs, three earned, in two plus innings of work. 

Offensively for the Cougars, De La Rosa (pictured left) was 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored while Ammirata was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a triple.  Junior Mike Manganiello (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) collected three RBI with a bases-loaded double.

For the Ospreys, junior Chris Discher (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and senior Pat Goodwin (Mays Landing, N.J.) each had two hits in the loss.