Regional Championship Page

Syracuse, NY … A seven-run third inning by the University of Southern Maine was too much to overcome as The College of New Jersey dropped a 10-1 decision on Friday night at the 2017 NCAA Division III Baseball Regional Championship tournament.
 
The loss sends the Lions (32-12) into the loser's bracket, where they will face Ithaca College tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. The Bombers (29-12) eliminated Castleton University earlier in the day with a 5-2 victory. Southern Maine and Oswego State are both 2-0 in the tourney and will square off tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The Lakers nipped (30-8) Tufts University, 1-0 in a terrific pitcher's duel.
 
The Huskies (32-11) strung together six hits in the third innings, highlighted by a two-run triple off the bat of Devin Warren. Southern Maine nearly pushed an eighth run across the plate, but TCNJ center field Thomas Persichetti (Hamilton, NJ/Notre Dame) gloved a fly ball and fired a strike to CJ Gearhart (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) at home plate to cut down the runner attempting to tag.
 
Three more runs in the sixth extended the Huskies' lead to 10-0. The Lions finally got on the board in the eighth when Patrick Anderson (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) walked, stole second, and scored on a single to center by Zachary Shindler (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh).
 
Tyler Leavitt pitched seven and two-thirds to move to 5-0 on the season. He limited TCNJ to four hits. Shindler had three of the five hits in the game for the Lions, while Gearhart and Matt Giacose (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) had the other two safeties.
 
Freshman Max Guidice (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) pitched two and two-thirds of scoreless relief.