In desperate need of a win, the North Jersey Eagles downed the Staten Island Tide 2-0 on Thursday night at the College of Staten Island.

It was a pitcher's duel throughout between Eagles starter Justin Valdespina and Tide righty Peter Byrnes, but Byrnes cracked first in the top half of the sixth inning.

After allowing a two out single to Eagles shortstop Paul Rufo, first baseman Luis Amaro belted a single to right field, where Tide outfielder Matt Cassinelli couldn't initially come up with the ball. The error allowed Rufo to score to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. 

The Eagles later added some insurance in the top half of the ninth, when Ryan Rivera drove in Matthew Krupa with a one out RBI single.

Valdespina paced the Eagles throughout, throwing six innings and only allowing four hits, while striking out eight. Tom Saffioti tossed a scoreless seventh and Nick Masterson picked up the six out save.

With the win, the Eagles (12-14) are just one game out of the fourth and final playoff position with 14 games remaining. However they'll have to pass both the Trenton Generals (15-15) and the South Jersey Giants (14-14) to make the postseason. 

They'll have two chances with the Generals on Saturday afternoon as they hope to move into a playoff spot.

The action can be heard beginning at 1:00pm on the North Jersey Eagles Radio Network at http://mixlr.com/northjerseyeagles/ with Drew Casey and Eagles general manager Brian Casey.

By Drew Casey

Pictures by Deana Dedovitch