GLASSBORO, N.J. – The No. 3/7 TCNJ baseball team lost in the road half of its big NJAC series at No. 6/4 Rowan on Wednesday afternoon, falling 6-5 to the Profs.
 
The Lions (23-4) put two runners in scoring position in the top of the ninth. Thomas Persichetti led off with a single, and David Cardona III walked to put the tying run on base. Jacob Simon sacrificed them ahead, putting Cardona and the tying run at second base.
 
Tommy McCarthy came to the plate against Andrew Cartier, who quickly jumped ahead to an 0-2 count. McCarthy responded though, singling right back up the middle to score Persichetti to make it 6-5. Cardona stopped at third to put runners at the corners.
 
Gary Otten came up, and he bounced a ball to third. Rowan managed to turn the 5-4-3 double play, just beating Otten at first by a step to end the game.
 
Rowan had a 2-0 lead after three innings, but the Lions came back in the top of the fourth to take the lead. Simon led off by reaching via error, and McCarthy walked to put two men on. Ryan Fischer singled home Simon to cut the lead to 2-1, and Matt Giacose followed with another single to bring McCarthy across, tying the game at 2-2.
 
Aydon Chavis singled to load the bases, and that allowed Fischer to score from third Danny Borup's sacrifice fly to center. TCNJ had its first lead of the day.
 
The lead shifted throughout the middle innings. An RBI single for Rowan tied the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Lions scored another run in the top of the sixth. Persichetti doubled Borup to third with one out, and Cardona lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Borup to hand TCNJ a 4-3 lead.
 
Rowan jumped ahead in the home half of the sixth. The Profs used three hits, including a pair of run-scoring extra-base hits, to score two runs. An insurance run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-4 came in handy for the Profs, as the Lions walked in a run thanks to three consecutive free passes after a leadoff double. That run made Cardona's necessary to tie the score.
 
TCNJ and Rowan, both ranked in the top-ten in both national polls, are also now tied for first in the NJAC with 9-2 records. First place is on the line on Thursday at George Ackerman Park. The two teams tangle in the back-end of the home-and-home at 3:30 p.m.