EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team had its bats heat up on a frigid day at George Ackerman Park on Saturday, banging out 11 hits in an 8-2 victory over Plattsburgh State. Avery Epstein paced the offense with three hits, and Matt Volpe earned the win with seven innings of one-run ball.

The Lions (1-4) jumped ahead, 2-0, in the first. Epstein singled and David Cardona III walked and were both in scoring position with two outs. Gary Otten singled up the middle to bring both runners home.

The Lions added another in the second. Grant Sible singled to lead off the inning, and he later scored on Nick Francisco's base hit to left center.

Plattsburgh State broke through on Volpe in the fourth for a run, but the Lions put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth. Strong, swirling winds accompanied the cold weather at Ackerman Park, and the Lions were the beneficiaries of that strong wind in the fifth. Thomas Persichetti and Epstein each doubled to start the inning with balls that danced in the gusts on their way to center field. With both of those men on base, Cardona doubled to left to make it 5-1, and he later scored on a passed ball to push the lead to 6-1.

TCNJ added two more runs in the seventh. A pitch hit Joe Oczkowski with the bases loaded, forcing in the seventh run of the game. TCNJ later made it 8-1 when Grant Sible sent a sacrifice fly into center to score Jacob Simon.

Volpe allowed just four hits with four strikeouts in seven innings. Simon and Otten each had two hits, and Otten and Cardona each had two RBIs.

TCNJ returns home Monday to face Gwynedd Mercy at 3 p.m.