Ewing, NJ … In another dramatic finish, The College of New Jersey defeated Tufts University, 4-3 on an Alex Christian two-run, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth in the opening game of the 2017 NCAA Division III Baseball Regional Championship tournament.
 
Trailing 3-2 entering their final at bat, freshman Jacob Simon (Hightstown, NJ/Hightstown) lined a single to right-center to open the inning. Junior Mike Follet (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) laid down a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away at first to put runners at second and third. Up stepped Christian, and just before the clock struck midnight, he blistered a line drive base hit to center to score Simon and Follet slid in ahead of the throw to set off a wild celebration.
 
The Lions (32-11) will now play Southern Maine at 6 p.m. tomorrow night. Southern Maine defeated Castleton University 5-3 earlier in the day in a game that was delayed for over three hours. That pushed back TCNJ's 6 p.m. start to 9:15. The Jumbos (30-9-1) will play Oswego State at 2:30 p.m.
 
Junior Matt Curry (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) pitched a perfect ninth to move to 9-0 on the season. He took over for classmate Joe Cirillo (Fairfield, NJ/DePaul Catholic), who put forth a gutty effort over eight innings. He scattered eight hits, surrendered two earned runs and struck out nine.
 
TCNJ trailed nearly the entire contest, tying the game 2-2 momentarily in the bottom of the fifth before Tufts pulled ahead again in the top of the sixth.
 
The Jumbos jumped ahead early, pushing a run across in the opening frame. Leadoff hitter Harry Brown reached on an error to get on base. He advanced on a slow chopper to second and moved to third on a ball in the dirt. Tommy O'Hara followed with a double just inside the third-base bag to plate Brown and give Tufts a 1-0 lead.
 
A run in the third made it a 2-0 game. Oscar Kutch drove a one-out triple to the gap in right-center. He came home on a ground ball to second to give starter Speros Verinos a two-run cushion.
 
The lanky right-hander appeared to be cruising through his third straight inning. With two outs and nobody on, freshman Thomas Perischetti (Hamilton, NJ/Notre Dame) caught a pitch middle-in and drilled it deep over the left-field fence for his first collegiate homer.
 
Cirillo settled in and struck out the final two batters he faced in the top of the fifth. That created some momentum, as senior Alex Christian (Millington, NJ/Spotswood) lined a single to center to open the bottom of the frame. A sacrifice bunt by Tommy McCarthy (Allentown, NJ/Allentown) moved him into scoring position. Senior Ben Varone (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) stepped up and ripped a single to right-center to score Christian easily and even the score, 2-2.
 
The Jumbos quickly regained the lead in the sixth. O'Hara drew a walk and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. With two out, Ryan Day muscled a ball back through the box to score O'Hara to edge ahead, 3-2.
 
Both starting pitchers kept any further runs off the board. Varinos struck out eight and limited TCNJ to six hits before giving way to closer Brad Marchetti. Cirillo bullied his way into the eighth and Tufts threatened to increase its lead with runners on first and third. Cirillo dug down and struck out the final batter he faced to keep it a one-run deficit.
 
Curry entered the game in the ninth and retired the side in order. That allowed the Lions' offense to do what they do when number 33 walks onto the field. They scored twice before the Jumbos could even record an out, emptying the bench just as they did in their last victory in the conference final.
 
Varone, Christian, and Simon each finished with two hits in the game.
 
In the other match-up tomorrow, Castleton will play Ithaca College in an elimination game tomorrow at 11 a.m.