Championship Page
Watch Live
Live Stats

Syracuse, NY … The College of New Jersey baseball team opens its quest for a ticket to the College World Series tonight at 6 p.m. when they take on Tufts University in their opening game of the 2017 NCAA Division III Baseball New York Regional Championship.
 
The Lions (31-11) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after winning the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship. The bid marks the 22^nd NCAA appearance in program history and second straight season TCNJ enters the field of 52.
 
The Jumbos (30-8-1) defeated Middlebury College twice in the championship round to capture the New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference championship. They defeated the Panthers 11-2 and 10-6 to seize their second consecutive NESCAC title and fifth overall. This marks the seventh NCAA appearance for Tufts in program history.
 
The Lions will likely send out ace right-hander Joe Cirillo to face the Jumbos. Cirillo owns a 5-1 mark this season with five complete game victories, a pair of shutouts, and a 1.40 earned run average. In nine starts, Cirillo has pitched nine innings on six occasions and has gone at least seven innings in each outing. Cirillo has struck out 64 batters in 77.1 innings pitched, fanning a career-best 10 hitters on three occasions.
 
Tufts is expected to counter with senior righty Speros Varinos. He is 8-1 with a save in 11 appearances. Varinos registered 78 Ks in 70 innings and walked just 10 batters. He went 5-0 in the month of April and also came on in relief in the title-winning game, tossing two and one-third scoreless innings to close out the NESCA championship.
 
Pitching, defense and timely hitting are the main areas of need to advance in the post-season. The staff ERAs are nearly identical, with TCNJ at 3.25 and Tufts at 3.23. The Jumbos hold a slight advantage in defense, committing just 48 errors and allowing 31 unearned runs, while the Lions have made 54 miscues in the field and surrendered 45 unearned runs. The synthetic surface at the Onondaga Baseball Complex should neutralize defensive play, unless nerves become a factor.
TCNJ definitely likes to put more pressure on the defense, swiping 63 bases on 81 attempts. They have also put down 42 sacrifice bunt this season. Tufts has stolen 39 bases on 48 attempts and dropped down 27 sacrifice bunts. Lions' catcher CJ Gearhart may play a key role in tonight's game, as he has thrown out 18-of-35 runners attempting to steal this season.
 
Both teams come playing well as is usually the case when it gets to this point in the post-season. TCNJ has won eight of its last nine contests, while Tufts has come out on top in five of its last six.
 
The winner of tonight's game will play the winner of the Southern Maine vs. Castleton tomorrow at 6 p.m. The loser will play the winner of the Oswego State vs. Ithaca contest at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow. The tournament is a double elimination format.