Box score

Glassboro, NJ ... The College of New Jersey baseball team fell to Rowan University 15-3 on Tuesday in the opening round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament.

The Lions (25-11) will now send staff ace Connor Henderson (Monmouth Jct., NJ/South Brunswick) to the mound as they'll host Montclair State University on Thursday at George Ackerman Park at 3:30 p.m. The Red Hawks were defeated by Kean University 3-1 in Union, NJ.

Simply put, it was not TCNJ's day. Give credit to a Profs' offense that produced 22 hits in the game and 15 runs in the contest. Rowan (28-9-1) advances in the winner's bracket to take on Rutgers University-Newark, who defeated Ramapo in Newark, NJ.

Rowan struck first when Matt Citro (Bloomsburg, NJ/Phillipsburgh) lined a two-out single to right-center to score Brad Woodend (Medford, NJ/Shawnee).

Lions' right fielder Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) took a run off the scoreboard in the second when Matt Hill attempted to score from second base on a single right field. Murphy fired a strike to catcher Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) to cut down Hill and keep the score 1-0.

Things took a turn for the worst from there. The Profs strung together six straight hits – three for extra bases to open the game up in the third. When the dust had finally settled, the Profs rapped out 10 hits in the inning and built an 11-0 lead.

They scored another run in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

TCNJ got on the board with a run in the eighth. Junior Jimmy Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberly Academy) and sophomore Nick Cifelli (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) stroked base hits. A single to left-center by junior Ethan Carey (Cogan Station, PA/Montoursville) scored Ruzich to spoil the shutout.

Ruzich then hit a two-run blast to left field in the ninth. It was his second of the season

Mike Swietanski (7-1) registered his seventh win of the season, while senior Sean Stewart (Howell, NJ/Freehold Twp.) suffered the loss for the Lions.

Senior Jason Zegarski (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) had two hits for the Lions, while Alan Genitempo (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) pitched well in relief. The right-hander tossed three and two-thirds scoreless innings, giving up just three hits.

TCNJ and Montclair State split their regular season series. The Lions took the first game 7-5 before the Red Hawks claimed the second game 7-1.