Box score

Pomona, NJ ... The College of New Jersey baseball team pounded out 15 hits and walked seven times en route to a 10-6 victory over Richard Stockton College on Friday.

The Lions (23-8, 9-5 NJAC) won for the ninth straight time, eight of which have been New Jersey Athletic Conference games. The streak matches the nine-game winning streak TCNJ posted earlier this season, and puts them in the driver's seat to qualify for NJAC tournament next week.

Jimmy Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberly Academy) slugged his first home run of the season. The junior first baseman finished the day with three hits and drove in three to lead a balanced Lions' offense. Senior Jason Zegarski (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) also had three hits, while sophomore Andrew Priece (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) stayed hot with a pair of hits and three runs batted in.

Junior Eric Lewis (Mantagh, NY/W.C. Mepham) recorded the longest outing of his career going eight and one-third innings for his fifth win of the season. Lewis (5-1) gets credit for today's victory, but also helped contribute to the Lions' pitching staff heading into the weekend. With back-to-back doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, the right-hander soaked up innings to help keep arms rested with four key games forthcoming over the next 48 hours.

TCNJ had this contest in hand early as they surged to an 8-0 lead by the fourth inning. Priece tripled to center field to drive in Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) in the second inning and then came into score when freshman Joe Dispoto (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) doubled.

The Lions exploded for four runs in the third inning. Sophomore Nick Cifelli (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) singled to load the bases before Priece delivered a two-run single to center. Senior Anthony Palmiotto (Manchester, NJ/Manchester Twp.) followed with a double down the right-field line to drive in two.

Ruzich led off the fourth inning with a home run to left field. It was his first of the season and seventh of his career. Cifelli doubled and scored on a Priece sacrifice fly and Lewis was staked with a six-run league. Cifelli went 2-for-5 in the game and is now hitting .418 in conference play this season.

Lewis rolled through the first four innings before the Ospreys (18-14, 4-10 NJAC) plated a pair of runs in the fifth. But the crafty junior settled down to pitch scoreless baseball in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings while the Lions tacked on two more runs in the ninth.

Sophomore Robert Schneider (Township of Washington, NJ/Westwood Regional) got the final two outs of the game to extinguish a late Stockton rally, giving TCNJ its 23rd win of the season.

The Lions host back-to-back doubleheaders this weekend squaring off against Montclair State University tomorrow at George Ackerman Park at 11:30 a.m. They will match up against Ramapo College on Sunday at 11:30 for a twinbill.