Mahwah, NJ … The College of New Jersey split its road double header at Ramapo College on Saturday afternoon in Mahwah, NJ.

The #17 Lions (14-6, 4-1 NJAC) road the arm of junior Joe Cirillo (Fairfield, NJ/DePaul Catholic) in the opener to claim a 4-0 win. In the nightcap, TCNJ was held to four hits as the Roadrunners (9-10, 3-2 NJAC) rebounded with a 6-3 triumph to salvage a split.

Cirillo was brilliant in the opener, throwing a complete-game shutout. He matched the career-high he set just a week ago with 10 strikeouts. The composed right-hander retired the side in order on five occasions, scattering four hits and walking none. He is now 2-0 this season with a 1.66 earned run average in 43.1 innings pitched.

The opening game victory also marked the first TCNJ win over Ramapo for every player on the Lions' roster. The Roadrunners have had the upper hand over the past several seasons with the last TCNJ victory coming on April 14, 2013.
 

Game 1: TCNJ 6  Ramapo 0

Cirillo and Ramapo sophomore CJ Growney traded zeroes through the first three innings. Three straight, one-out singles in the fourth led to the Lions first run. Junior Mike Follet (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) drove an offering to left-center to start the rally and advanced on a Jacob Simon (Hightstown, NJ/Highstown) base hit to right. Tommy McCarthy (Allentown, NJ/Allentown) drove in Follet with a base hit to right-center to put TCNJ on the board. Simon advanced to third on an errant pick-off attempt and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ben Varone (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee). With two outs, freshman Thomas Persichetti (Hamilton, NJ/Notre Dame) doubled to center to plate McCarthy and put the Lions up 3-0.

The Persichetti-McCarthy combo hooked up for the third time in the last two games, as the rookie center fielder doubled in McCarthy to make it a 4-0 score. (Persichetti doubled in McCarthy late in the game on  Friday.)

Cirillo was masterful is taming the Ramapo offense. He allowed just one Roadrunner to reach second base in the game, a two-out double in the fourth. Cirillo struck out 10 altogether, consisting of five innings in which he K'd two batters. His consistency was uncanny even in that regard, as he fanned one hitter swinging and one hitter looking in each of those five innings.

Persichetti and Follet have heated up for the Lions on offense. Persichetti finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of runs batted in. Follet also had three hits, while Simon and CJ Gearhart (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) collected two apiece.

Game 2: Ramapo 6  TCNJ 3

Ramapo jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the back-end game with a pair of runs in the second. TCNJ answered back by tying the game in the third and taking a 3-2 lead in the fourth.

Zachary Shindler (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) roped his second triple in as many days to drive in two in the third. In the fourth, the Lions manufactured a run. Gearhart walked, Follet moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and Gearhart advanced to third on a wild pitch. McCarthy drove in Gearhart with a ground ball to third to put TCNJ up 3-2.

The Roadrunners, however, put up four runs in the fifth. They rapped out four hits in the inning off of starter Michael Fischer (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) to take command of the contest. The big blow was a bases loaded double by junior Bobby Shannon. The Lions kept one run off the board when Persichetti hit Shindler with a throw, and he turned and fired to Gearhart to cut down a potential seventh run in the contest.

That would be all the scoring in the game as Ramapo starter Cory Heitler went six and two-thirds innings to gain his first win of the season. He struck out eight and permitted just four hits. Greg Westhelle pitched the final two and a third innings to garner his first save.

Fischer (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season. He pitched eight innings and struck out seven. Persichetti and Schindler each had two hits in the nightcap.

The Lions return to conference play on Monday, April 10th against Rutgers University-Camden. That is a make-up date from last Thursday and is slated for a 3:30 p.m. start in George Ackerman Park.