Wayne, NJ... The 9th ranked College of New Jersey baseball team picked up their 5th victory in a row, and 11th in the last 12 games with a 7-1 win over conference opponent William Paterson University on Thursday. TCNJ improves to 25-6 on the year including 12-3 in the conference, while WPU falls to 22-12 and 8-7 in the NJAC. 

The game was a pitcher's duel early on, and heading into the 6th inning the Lions were trailing 1-0. The offense was jump started by Thomas Persichetti (Hamilton, NJ/Notre Dame) who launched one into the right center field gap, and motored around the bases to slide headfirst into third. A couple of batters later Austin Lindsay (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) drove Persichetti home with a base knock to ice the game up at 1-1. Patrick Anderson (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) worked a walk, then Tommy McCarthy (Allentown, NJ/Allentown) singled through the right side and Lindsay hustled home to put the Lions on top.

Starting pitcher Michael Fischer (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) was brilliant on the mound, and was the winning pitcher. He threw a complete game four-hitter, and got stronger as the game progressed as he retired the last 13 batters he faced. TCNJ grabbed control of the lead with a five run 8th inning. Anderson laced a base hit to center to drive in a couple of runs, then McCarthy laid down a bunt that the Pioneers weren't able to handle and Lindsay came around third to cross the plate and make it 5-1 Lions. Jacob Simon (Hightstown, NJ/Hightstown) knocked in another run with a base hit, then Ryan Fischer (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) sent a sac fly to right field to make it a 7-1 ballgame.

The Lions remain atop the conference standings, as they have a two game lead on Rowan, Ramapo, and Rutgers Camden with three NJAC games left on the schedule. 

Next up for the Lions is a home game tomorrow against the Pioneers, beginning at 3:30pm.