ASHLAND, Va. – The TCNJ baseball team opened the 2020 season Saturday with a doubleheader against No. 17 Randolph-Macon. In game one, Randolph-Macon defeated the Lions, 8-4. In game two, the Yellow Jackets earned a 12-6 victory in eight innings.

GAME ONE: No. 17 Randolph-Macon 8, TCNJ 4
The Lions opened the season with a run in their first at-bat. Thomas Persichetti led off the season with a single to left, and he stole both second and third bases after an out. With David Cardona III batting, a wild pitch allowed Persichetti to score. Cardona drew a walk in the plate appearance, extending his reached-base streak to 29 games, dating back to last season.

The score stayed 1-0 until the bottom of the third. The Yellow Jackets loaded the bases with a hit batsman and two walks, and a two-out single scored a pair of runs to make it 2-1.

Randolph-Macon added another run after two outs in the home half of the fifth. RMC again came through with the run-scoring hit, this time doubling to left center to push the lead to 3-1.

The Lions pulled even with runs in the sixth and seventh innings. Persichetti singled after an out in the sixth, and he swiped another base to move into scoring position. With two outs, Cardona recorded his first hit of the season with a run-scoring single to left. In the seventh, Joe Oczkowski singled home Gary Otten to tie the score at 3-3.

Randolph-Macon broke it open in the bottom of the seventh, plating four runs on four hits. The Yellow Jackets added another run in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-3. TCNJ scored once in its final at-bat after Jacob Simon led off the inning with a single and later came home on a wild pitch.

Peter Nielsen got the opening day start for the Lions, pitching six innings while allowing three runs and fanning five in a no-decision.

Persichetti's three stolen bases moved him into 16^th place on the school's career list with 45.

Game Two: No. 17 Randolph-Macon 12, TCNJ 6
Six TCNJ hitters had multi-hit games, led by Persichetti's 3-for-4 game. Cardona, Otten, Simon, Avery Epstein and Chris Cote all had two hits. Aydon Chavis went 1-for-4 to round out the Lions' 14-hit attack.

RMC led, 5-0, after two innings, but the Lions fought back to with a four-run third inning. With two outs, Epstein singled to put two men on. Cardona singled through the right side to score Chavis, and Simon followed with a two-run triple to center. Otten capped the inning with a run-scoring single to make it 5-4.

The Lions pulled even briefly in the top of the fifth. Cardona tripled to lead off the inning, and he scored on Simon's sacrifice fly. The Yellow Jackets retook the lead in the bottom half of the frame, but the Lions made it 6-6 in the top of the seventh. This time, it was Simon who led off with a triple. Two hitters later, he scored on Joe Oczkowski's ground out.

In the bottom of the seventh, however, Randolph-Macon exploded for six runs on six hits to double the Lions, 12-6.

Darkness forced the completion of the contest after the bottom of the eighth inning, and it will not be completed.

The teams conclude the three-game series on Sunday at noon.