Tournament bracket


Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey baseball team will open up New Jersey Athletic Conference playoff action this Tuesday visiting Kean University in Union, NJ at 3:30 p.m.
 
The Lions (22-18, 10-8) earned the fifth-seed in the tournament, while the Cougars (28-10, 13-5) enter the double-elimination tourney as the two-seed.
 
TCNJ dropped its final three conference games of the season, and if the seniors on this squad can think back to the 2009 NJAC championship they won, the late-season stumble means just about nothing entering the playoffs. Prior to the 2009 postseason, the Lions had lost their final three NJAC contests. They responded by running the table in winning four consecutive games as the four-seed to claim the 2009 title and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA championship tournament.
 
Entering 2012, TCNJ has defeated every team seeded above them with the exception of Montclair State University. And those two losses to the Red Hawks were both by a single run, the first of which was in extra innings.
 
The Lions and Cougars squared off in a pair of pitcher's duels in late March. TCNJ won the first game 2-1 in 10 innings as Jacob Dewitt (Florence, NJ/Florence) lined a walk-off single to left field. Junior Robert Graber (Franklin Park, NJ/Ramapo) tossed eight and two-third innings of one-run baseball before senior Mike Ham (Sparta, NJ/Pope John XXIII) got the final four outs to earn the win.
 
In the second game, Kean rebounded to claim a 1-0 victory. Chris Cirlincione and Eric Lewis (Wantagh, NY/W.C. Mepham) matched up in a classic, each going the distance. A run scored off an infield single in the fourth inning was the lone runner to cross the plate in the contest.
 
Lewis, Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy), Jimmy Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberley Academy), and Andrew Priece (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) were all members of the 2009 title-winning team. Their experience and understanding that seedings are mere numbers on a piece of paper will be critical to the Lions' run in 2012.
 
The other two opening round games played Tuesday will pit Ramapo College at Montclair State and William Paterson University at Rowan University. All games will start at 3:30.
 
Note: While the postseason is 100 percent about the team winning and advancing, it is also noteworthy that two individuals will have additional games to reach milestones. Ruzich has 193 career hits, which ranks him 10^th all-time in program history. Junior Scott Kelly (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-North) has also now stolen 74 bases in his career. He is three shy of the all-time mark of 77 set by C.J. Rockhill '88.