Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey baseball team swept New Jersey City University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon in George Ackerman Park.
 
The Lions charged to a 20-7 victory in the opener and took the back-end game 13-8. TCNJ evened its record and now stands at 10-10 overall this season. They picked up two important conference wins and improved to 3-4 in the NJAC.
 
The Gothic Knights dropped to 10-12 on the season and 3-7 in the conference.
 
 
Game 1: TCNJ 20  NJCU 7
 
The Lions' offense erupted for 20 runs on 21 hits in the opener. The first seven hitters in the line-up had multiple hits. Junior Patrick Roberts (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) led the way with four hits (including two triples), four runs batted in and five runs scored. Senior Josh Limon (Eastampton, N J/Rancocas) hit a solo home run and junior Garen Turner (Hainesport, NJ/Rancocas Valley) launched a two-run shot for TCNJ.
 
Freshman Joe Cirillo (Fairfield, NJ/DePaul Catholic) gained the mound decision for the Lions. He pitched eight innings and struck out three for his third win of the season. Senior Benito Gonzalez (Perth Amboy, NJ/Princeton) pitched the ninth and struck out a batter.
 
Trailing 1-0 in the second, TCNJ put up a 10-spot in the bottom of the inning. They scattered eight hits, drew three walks and had a hit batsmen to take command of the contest. The Lions came back with two more runs in the third, three in the fourth, three in the fifth and two in the sixth.
 
The highlight of the game came in the top of the fourth. Limon led off the inning and belted the first home run of his collegiate career. Getting the first "official" homer for Limon was a journey. As a sophomore, he cleared the fence, but was called out for missing home plate. Earlier this spring in Florida, he blasted a shot to left-center that easily cleared the outfield fence, but struck the netting behind the fence. The ball was ruled in play and resulted in a controversial double. There was no doubt about this round-tripper for Limon and he was able to celebrate with his teammates, following the silent treatment.
 
Junior Mark Mari (Bayonne, NJ/Seton Prep), Limon and catcher CJ Gearhart (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) all finished with three hits in the game. Turner, Mari and Gearhart each drove in three runs.
 
 
Game 2: TCNJ 13  NJCU 8
 
The Lions took what the Gothic Knights gave them in the back-end game. They managed just seven hits in the game, but capitalized on four errors, nine free passes and two hit batsmen.
 
Junior Joseph DiLorenzo (West Orange, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) earned his first collegiate win. He pitched four and one-thirds innings, giving up two runs (one earned) and struck out one.
 
The Lions jumped out to another big lead early in the game. They plated four runs in the second on a double, three walks, two sacrifices and a wild pitches. TCNJ scored more three runs in the third without a hit. They capitalized on three walks, an error and two wild pitches to stretch the lead to 7-0.
 
Freshman Brandon Zachary (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) pitched the first two innings for the Lions and ran into some trouble in the third. Rookie Chris Barcas (Wall, NJ/Wall) entered the game with the bases loaded and one out. He induced a short fly ball to right and a ground ball to short to end the threat and escape the inning unscathed.
 
The NJCU bats came to life in the fourth. They littered the outfield with eight singles in the inning and scored six runs to make it a 7-6 match. In the bottom of the inning, the Lions came back with a pair of runs. Turner lifted a sacrifice fly to center and Limon singled to center to make it a three-run game.
 
TCNJ struck for four more runs in the fifth. The big blow was a three-run triple by Turner, giving him four RBI in the game.
 
Cocuzza and Limon finished with two hits in the game. Roberts scored three times, giving him eight scored runs on the day.
 
TCNJ will be back in action tomorrow when they take on William Paterson University in an NJAC double header starting at 11:30 a.m. in George Ackerman Park.