Ewing, NJ… In the opening game of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Tournament, the 9^th ranked College of New Jersey Lions were victorious over  William
Paterson University by a final score of 9-0. The Lions improve to 28-7 on the campaign while the Pioneers fall to 23-15.

As they have frequently this season, the Lions scored early by putting up two runs in the second inning. Austin Lindsay (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) scored from third on a passed ball, then a couple of batters later David Cardona III (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) laced an RBI single to left field.

The Lions added another in the third inning by way of an error, then In the 4^th inning, Zachary Shindler (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) knocked a base hit to center field to make it a 4-0 Lions lead.

The Pioneers had a chance to score in the fifth inning, however starting pitcher Joe Cirillo (Fairfield, NJ/DePaul Catholic) escaped the jam. There was a runner on second and third with only one out, however Cirillo got out of it unscathed by forcing a pop out and a ground out.

In the fifth inning, Jacob Simon (Hightstown, NJ/Hightstown) extended the TCNJ advantage to 5-0 with an RBI single to right center field. Ryan Fischer (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to push over the Lions sixth run of the day. Shindler pushed a single through the left side to make it a 7-0 ballgame.

Cirillo was effective on the mound, as he threw a complete game shutout and struck out four batters while not walking any. Control has been a strong point for him all year long, as remarkably he has only walked four batters on the season.

The Lions will return to the diamond on Friday, May 4th at 3:30 pm to continue the NJAC Championship Tournament, which will be played at Kean University.