Union, N.J. (4/1/17) – Sophomore Steve Santigate was 4-for-9 with six RBI and two homers as the Kean University baseball team split with New Jersey City University in the NJAC opening weekend for both.

Kean (14-8) dropped the opener 10-8 while winning the nightcap 7-2.

Game One

The Cougars pushed out to a 7-2 lead after six innings after a four spot in the third thanks to a three run homer from Frank Urso and an RBI double from Mike Fidanza.  NJCU (6-6) cut the deficit in half with two runs of their own in the fourth with RBI doubles from Lenin Gomez and Joe Coutinho.

Kean used the long ball two more times with a two run blast from Santigate and a solo shot from Krupa for the 7-2 advantage.

The Knights (6-6) plated five in the seventh to knot the game at seven-all.  The big blow was off the bat of Nick Ruscingno with a bases-clearing triple.

Santigate (pictured left) put Kean back on top in the same inning with an RBI single but NJCU answered right back in the eighth as Zach Buchholz singled to left to tie the game up this time at eight-all.

The deciding factor happened in the ninth as Coutinho laced a two RBI triple for the 10-8 win.

Anthony Carfora (3-0) earned the win despite allowing eight earned runs and 10 hits, three homers and six walks in six innings of work.  Kyle Gaeb (1-2) suffered the loss in the ninth.

Game Two

Tyler Hopman (4-1) tossed a complete game in the nightcap to improve to 4-1 on the season.  He allowed two runs and eight hits with six strikeouts and just one walk.

The Cougars led throughout as the offense was highlighted with another homer from Santigate, his third in three games, this one of the inside-the-park variety.  Derek Walker finished game two with a 3-for-5 performance with one RBI and one run scored while Ivan Rivera was 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

Kean returns to non-conference action on Tuesday when they host St. Joseph's College-Long Island in a rescheduled matchup.