Box Score
Lakewood, NJ… The College of New Jersey baseball team opened the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament with the right mix of hitting and quality pitching as the Lions knocked off Penn State Behrend, 13-1, on Wednesday at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood.
With the win, fifth-seeded TCNJ (25-16-1) advances to face either top-seeded Kean University at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Fourth-seeded Penn State Behrend, also nicknamed the Lions, takes the field again on Thursday at 10 a.m., facing Penn State Berks.
Pitching dominated the first four innings, as Penn State Behrend's Andrew Chrobak (New Castle, PA) and TCNJ starter Connor Henderson (Monmouth Junction, NJ/South Brunswick) kept the hits to a minimum. Chrobak retired 12 of the first 13 batters he faced, while Henderson allowed only one run on three hits over that span.
TCNJ's bats then got going in the fifth, sending 11 batters to the plate and pushing five runs across to take the lead. Anthony Palmiotto (Manchester, NJ/Manchester Twp.) tied the game at one as the freshman singled in Ryan Anzelone (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Twp.). Senior Adam Tussey (Brooklawn, NJ/Gloucester) then put the Lions in front for good with an infield single to plate Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy). After TCNJ increased the advantage to 3-1 on a run-scoring fielder's choice by James Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberley Academy), two more crossed home plate as Chris Esperon (Union. NJ/Union Catholic) doubled in a pair making it a 5-1 lead.
The runs kept coming in the sixth, as Galeotafiore trotted home on a balk by a Penn State Behrend pitcher and Tussey knocked in his second run of the game with a base hit. Ruzich followed with another base hit allowing Palmiotto to score the third run of the inning extending TCNJ's advantage to 8-1. The final run of the inning came on a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield by senior Jeff Toth (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville).
In the seventh, TCNJ padded its lead with two more runs as Palmiotto doubled in a run and Tussey collected his third RBI of the day with a hit bumping the lead to 11-1.
The Lions increased the margin to 13-1 in the eighth with the final two runs of the game as Anzelone and Andrew Priece (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) each plated runs with singles.
Henderson was the beneficiary of the offense outburst by TCNJ, as he cruised through his seven innings of work allowing just the one run on four hits. The win was his team-leading seventh of the season.
Relievers Joe Marchitelli (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) and Eric Gertie (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) each pitched a scoreless inning, as TCNJ's three pitchers held Penn State Behrend to only five hits. The Lions from Pennsylvania entered the game batting a lofty .365 as a team
Tussey and Esperon each finished with three hits to pace TCNJ's offense.
For Penn State Behrend, Ryan Liddle (DuBois, PA) had solid game at the plate going 2-for-2 with a double and run scored.
