CALDWELL, N.J. – The Caldwell University baseball team defeated Mercy College, 8-3 in a non-conference game Wednesday afternoon at the Kiwanis Oval. The win gives the Cougars a 7-20 record on the season, while the Mavericks drop to 8-20.

After Mercy took a 1-0 lead with a run in the top of the first inning, Caldwell put three runs on the board in the bottom of the third. Freshmen Justin Jeannette (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) and Kevin Goldman (Valley Stream, NY/Valley Stream Central), and sophomore Michael Bernstein (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) each singled home runs in the inning. Then in the fourth, Jeannette hit a two-run homer, his first home run as a collegian, for a 5-1 lead. Mercy plated an unearned run in the fifth, only to have Goldman come home on a grounder by freshman Charles Grade (Sterling Heights, MI/Sterling Heights) to make the score 6-2.

In the sixth, junior Mike LaTorraca (Caldwell, NJ/James Caldwell) singled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and a single by Jeannette, and came home on a wild pitch. Sal Palumbo hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh, but the Cougars got the run back in the bottom of the seventh on a single by freshman Noah Clark (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) that scored Goldman.

Five Caldwell pitchers held Mercy to three runs on eight hits, with freshman Sagar Patel (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany) earning the win after pitching two innings. Jeannette and Goldman each had three hits, with Jeannette driving in three runs and Goldman delivering two doubles.

Caldwell plays a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader against Bloomfield College on Thursday, Apr. 15. The games will be played at Yogi Berra Stadium on the campus of Montclair State. The first game starts at 12:00 p.m.