AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The TCNJ baseball team got a solid start from Peter Nielsen and some timely hitting from its offense, but the Lions fell to No. 7 Concordia-Chicago, 3-2, on Sunday afternoon at the RussMatt Invitational. The Cougars scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a balk.
 
Nielsen allowed just a walk until he hit a batter and gave up a single in the bottom of the fourth inning. He fought back with a strikeout and a groundout to get out of the frame with the game still scoreless. Concordia broke through in the fifth inning for a run. A leadoff double and a groundout put a man on third with one out. A safety squeeze followed, and the run crossed to give the Cougars a 1-0 advantage.
 
The Lions (2-1) fought back in the seventh to scratch out a pair of runs. Jacob Simon led off with an infield single, and Gary Otten followed by reaching on a throwing error. Ryan Fischer moved the runners ahead with a sacrifice bunt, and Aydon Chavis tied the score with a sacrifice fly to center. Now with two outs, Matt Giacose came through with an RBI single up the middle to score Otten. TCNJ had its first lead of the day, 2-1.
 
Concordia (8-1) tied the score in its half of the seventh. Back-to-back singles with one out put runners at the corners. The Cougars used a sac fly of their own to bring home the tying run from third, making it 2-2.
 
TCNJ threatened to retake the lead in the top of the eighth. The Lions loaded the bases with one out thanks to singles by Tommy McCarthy and Otten sandwiched around a Simon base on balls. Fischer lined out to first for the second out, though, and Chavis popped out to end the inning.
 
Concordia scored the winning run in the ninth inning without the benefit of a hit. A walk and hit batsman led off the inning. After a failed sacrifice attempt that resulted in a strikeout, the runners were able to move ahead on a wild pitch. With the winning run just 90 feet away, a balk was called to allow that winning run to cross.
 
Danny Borup reached base three times, including a pair of hits. Nielsen struck out 10 while walking just one in his seven innings of work.
 
TCNJ faces another ranked opponent on Monday. The Lions take on No. 12 Southern Maine at 10 a.m.