On Thursday, the Montclair State Red Hawks baseball team welcomed another New Jersey Athletic Conference rival, the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights, to Yogi Berra Stadium. In their first matchup of the season, Montclair State dominated NJCU in what turned out to be a rain-shortened, five-inning game.
Jorden Jurkiewicz, Red Hawks Lineup Dominate Early Before Rain Delay
Montclair State's offense has had plenty of impressive performances throughout the season. However, this one was special from the get-go. The Red Hawks lineup put up a 13-spot in the first inning alone. Jorden Jurkiewicz got it started by driving in two of them with an opposite-field home run, his ninth of the season, and drove in another with an RBI single. The Red Hawks sent 17 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning.
"It's definitely nice having a comfortable lead early in the game especially in NJAC play," said Jurkiewicz. "I think our team is just kind of used to having games like this. It's not the first time this has happened all season."
The Red Hawks slugfest wouldn't stop there, as they scored nine more runs in the bottom of the third inning. Jurkiewicz again tacked on three runs, but this time with one swing. Jurkiewicz crushed one to deep left-center field for a three-run home run, his second of the game and tenth of the season, to give Montclair State a 21-3 lead.
Jorden Jurkiewicz crushes one to deep left for a no-doubt, three run home run. Jorden’s second homer of the game and 10th of the season gives Montclair State a 21-3 lead. #ComeFlyWithUs #JerseySports pic.twitter.com/qcJgrbFTPC
— Adam Grassani (@AGrassani6) April 14, 2022
"Good," said Jurkiewicz on how he felt at the plate. "Struggled the last week or so. Wasn't really feeling comfortable in the box. Today was kind of the first day in a while now where I just settled back in and got my swing off. Felt good."
Montclair State added two more runs to extend their lead to 23-3, heading into the top of the fifth inning. However, heavy rain moved into the area, and the game went into a rain delay. The game would resume over an hour later, but the two teams would only play an inning before deciding to call it due to more rainstorms on the way and needing to get the game finalized before dusk. The game went five innings, so it was an official game, and Montclair State was given the victory by the final of 23-4.
"Uncommon, but nice," said head coach Dave Lorber. "Anytime you can start off with a 13-spot in the first, I don't think anyone's going to say that's a bad thing. So that was really nice to see. We took some good consistent swings early, held our zone and did a nice job."
Jorden Jurkiewicz finished the game going 4-for-4 with two home runs and six total RBIs. He currently ranks second in the NJAC in batting average at .461, third in on-base percentage at .508, first in slugging percentage at .853, and first in OPS at 1.361. He currently has the most home runs and RBIs in the NJAC with 10 and 41, respectively.
"Nice piece to have," said coach Lorber on Jurkiewicz. "He's still got to work on some things. Get more consistent in his swing. But I'm pleased with where he's going and today was a good day for him. Hopefully we can build off of that and keep going."
On Deck for Montclair State
The Montclair State Red Hawks currently stand with a conference record of 6-1, tied with Kean University for the best in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, and a 21-7 record overall. They'll face New Jersey City University again on the road Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT before returning home Saturday, April 16, for a doubleheader against The College of New Jersey, with the first game starting at 11:30 p.m. EDT.
