JENKINTOWN, Pa. – It took more than a calendar year for the TCNJ baseball team to play its first game after the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Lions played their 2021 season opener on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Penn State Abington. Abington defeated TCNJ, 8-1.
 
Abington (3-1) got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the bottom of the first and adding three more in the third to take a 5-0 advantage. Both first-inning runs came after two outs thanks to back-to-back singles.
 
In the third, Abington added three more runs after loading the bases. A walk, a single and a sacrifice fly in consecutive plate appearances pushed the advantage to 5-0.
 
TCNJ (0-1) threatened in the top of the fourth. Avery Epstein led off by reaching via an error, and the Lions put a second runner on base when Grant Sible was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch pushed Epstein to third and Sible to second with just one out, but a strikeout and a lineout ended the threat without a run.
 
Trailing, 6-0, in the top of the seventh, the Lions again tried to mount a rally. After two outs, Jack Felipe singled through the left side and Cameron Cane walked. Michael Schumacher flied out to center, though, keeping the score at 6-0.
 
Abington added two more runs in the bottom of the seventh, and TCNJ got on the board in the top of the eighth. Chris Cote homered to lead off the inning, breaking the shutout. Cote led the TCNJ offense with two hits.
 
The game was the first for the Lions since defeating Gwynedd-Mercy, 8-7, in 10 innings on March 9, 2020, at George Ackerman Park.
 
TCNJ returns to action on Sunday when it travels to No. 7 Salisbury for a doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for noon.