Ewing, NJ... It may be only one game, but The College of New Jersey will be looking to cash in on its home-field advantage to kick-off post-season play. The Lions clinched the second seed in the 2012 New Jersey Athletic Conference over the weekend with a win over Ramapo College and with that secured a home game in the opening round.
 
TCNJ will open the conference tournament on Tuesday, May 1 against Kean University in a 4:30 p.m. start at Lions' Park.
 
The win over Ramapo on the season's final day left TCNJ in a three-way tie for second place with Rowan University and William Paterson University as all three teams boasted 12-6 conference records. The Lions, however, claimed the second seed as they were 3-1 in games against those schools, while Rowan was 2-2 and William Paterson was 1-3.
 
Once their playoff positioning was determined, the Lions had to wait for another tiebreaker to be settled as Kean University and Ramapo both went 10-8 in conference place. Kean won its respective tiebreaker with Ramapo to earn the fifth seed and a date at TCNJ.
 
Following the opening round of games on Tuesday, the tournament will shift to top-seeded Montclair State University on Friday and continue throughout the weekend.
 
Kean was responsible for two of TCNJ's conference losses as the Cougars won both ends of a doubleheader on their home field, winning 2-0 and 6-4.
 
Tuesday's game is expected to feature two of the premier pitchers in the conference in TCNJ's Lauren Fitzsimmons (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) and Kean's Courtney Yard. Yard is second in the NJAC with 17 wins and leads all players with 177.2 innings of work, while Fitzsimmons is has 15 victories and is tied for third in strikeouts at 114.
 
The duo of Liz Huttner (Princeton Junction, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South) and Crystal Lee (Rockaway, NJ/Morris Knolls) have been catalysts for TCNJ's offense all season with Huttner hitting a team-leading .416 and Lee is at .390. Huttner also adds some power with a team-leading 12 extra-base hits, including nine doubles. Lee tops all players in the NJAC with 42 stolen bases and is tied for the lead in runs scored at 40.