STOCKTON SPLITS 4-3 GAMES WITH NJCU

Mike Wasco

Game 1 / Game 2

Richard Stockton (20-17, 8-10 NJAC) finished up the regular season with a split against New Jersey City University (13-26, 2-16), winning the first game 4-3 in 10 innings before dropping the nightcap by the same 4-3 score. 

In game one, the Ospreys took a 1-0 lead in the third inning as Mike Wasco (Riverside/Riverside) picked up an RBI with a single through the middle. New Jersey City tied the game in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Alex Weinstein, but Stockton came right back to regain the lead.

After Travis Marra (Toms River/Toms River East) walked, pinch-runner Justin Hernandez (Jackson/Jackson Liberty) advanced to second on an error. Justin Gordon (Brick/Brick Memorial) scored him with a base hit to make it 2-1. The Gothic Knights then scored in the eighth as Michael Patterson singled and scored on an error for a 2-2 tie.

An RBI single by Brian Bustillo gave NJCU a 3-2 lead in the 10th inning. Stockton loaded the bases with no one out in the bottom half. Dan McGuckin (Sicklerville/Winslow Twp) grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Gerard Heininger (Jackson/Jackson Liberty) to tie the score at three. After an intentional walk loaded the bases again, Mike Ficarro (Elmira, NY/Elmira) laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score Wasco for the 4-3 Stockton win.

Bill Barron (Hamilton/Steinert) picked up his second win of the year in relief of Adam Warburton (Sewell/Washington Twp.), who threw the first nine innings and allowed just one earned run and one unearned. Wasco went 2-4 with a run and an RBI for the Ospreys. Bustillo, Pete Senyszyn and Michael Martucci finished with two hits apiece for NJCU.

The nightcap saw the Ospreys battle back again but fell just short. The Gothic Knights took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning on RBI singles by Matt Matlosz and Matthew Wagner. Brett Solomen (Harrison Twp/Clearview) doubled in the bottom half, scoring Gordon to cut the lead to 2-1. NJCU scored an unearned run on an RBI single by Bustillo in the seventh inning to stretch their lead to 3-1, but once again Stockton rallied.

Barry Larro (Cedarville/Cumberland) singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Marc Asta (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) and then McGuckin hit an RBI single to tie it at 3-3. New Jersey City was able to push a run across in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Matlosz and hold on for the win.

Larro, McGuckin, Gordon and Solomen rapped out two hits apiece for Stockton in the nightcap. Wagner went 3-4 with an RBI to lead New Jersey City. Wendell Rodriguez earned the win with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief for NJCU.

Osprey seniors Wasco, Asta, Ficarro, McGuckin, Chris Wedding (Toms River/Toms River East), Bryan Frank (Toms River/Toms River East), Nick Scalise (Northfield/Mainland), Mark Crescenzi (Penns Grove/Penns Grove) and Zach Brebner (Toms River/Toms River North) were honored before playing their final regular season home games.