Toms River, NJ - Ocean County College Baseball soundly defeated nationally-ranked #3 Brookdale Community College on Wednesday (3/27), by an 8-1 final score.

Battling back from a pair of losses at Brookdale a day prior, the Vikings brought explosive offense and a shut-down pitching performance from sophomore Ryan Preston to the table to right the ship in the teams' 3rd matchup. OCC sophomore right fielder Carl Barth opened Viking scoring with a 2-run single in the bottom of the 5th, followed by a run-scoring single from freshman catcher AJ Pierson that put the Vikings up 3-1. Pierson would drive home an insurance run in the bottom of the 7th, followed by a devastating 3-run double from freshman 1st baseman Ryan Ushock to put Ocean up by 6. OCC sophomore 2nd baseman Justin Renzi completed the Viking scoring effort in the 7th with an RBI single. Ryan Ushock and AJ Pierson were consecutively named Garden State Athletic Conference Players of the Week over the last two weeks, in recognition of their outstanding recent performances.  

While Ocean's potent offense played a key role in this upset, perhaps equally important was their play on the defensive end. Sophomore shortstop Evan Hill has been among the Region's best at his position through the last 2 weeks, and assisted in 4 double plays in this matchup, while Justin Renzi is similarly playing the best defense of his Ocean career at the right time, providing a reliable 2B/SS tandem with Hill.

The Vikings are 8-6 overall this season, and next travel to Middlesex College for a 12 P.M. doubleheader on Saturday, March 30.