Haverford, Pa. … The College of New Jersey baseball team dropped a 7-3 decision to Haverford College on Thursday afternoon at Kannerstein Field. The Fords built an early 5-0 lead and were able to hold off the #16 Lions (10-5) to move to 9-7 on the season.

Haverford pushed across three runs in the second and two more in the third. TCNJ got on the board in the fourth when junior Austin Lindsay (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) belted his first home run of the season.

In the seventh, the Lions closed the gap to 5-3. Sophomore Ryan Fischer (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) singled through the left side to open the inning. Junior Mike Follet (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) chased him in with a double to right-center field. Follet advanced to third on a wild pitch and crossed home plate when Ben Varone (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) lifted a sacrifice fly to left.

That would be as close as TCNJ would get as Haverford tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.

Junior Brandon Zachary (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) struck out six in six innings, but suffered the loss. Nickolas Kleftogiannis (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) tossed the final two innings in relief.

On the offensive side, Zachary Shindler (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) was two-for-four in the game. Six other players produced hits throughout the contest.

TCNJ will now shift its attention to New Jersey Athletic Conference play. They will host Rutgers-Newark this Saturday in George Ackerman Park. The Scarlet Raiders are also off to a hot start, sporting a 10-3 season record. Seven off the ten NJAC schools have .500 records or better heading into the league schedule.

The Lions enter the weekend with a balanced offensive attack. Five of their regular starters are batting above .300 led by Varone at .354. CJ Gearhart (.333), Alex Christian (.316), Shindler (.316), and freshman Jacob Simon (.308) have been steady through the first 15 games. Christian has driven in 10 and scored 12 runs, both team highs. Shindler has knocked in nine, scored 10 runs, and swiped a team-best six bases. He and teammate Patrick Anderson have drawn 10 walks.

On the mound, ace Joe Cirillo and Michael Fischer have both thrown very well in their seven combined starts. Fischer (2.77 ERA) has come away with a 3-0 record, while Cirillo (2.49) is still searching for his first decision. Enter Matt Curry. Curry has been outstanding and come through for the Lions in tight games in the late innings. He is 5-0 with a 0.00 ERA and has held opposing hitters to a .109 batting average.

First pitch this Saturday is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.