EWING, N.J. – Freshman starting pitcher Jordan Gray earned his first career victory in the second game of the TCNJ baseball team's doubleheader against New Jersey City on Saturday afternoon at George Ackerman Park. The games were shifted from NJCU, and TCNJ served as the visiting team in both games on its home field.
 
GAME ONE: NJCU 4, TCNJ 2
Ben Amon went eight innings, allowing just three earned runs (four total) while striking out seven in suffering a tough loss. New Jersey City scored twice in the bottom of the third, including that one unearned run, to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Lions cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth inning. Ryan Goodall doubled to left to start the frame, and Avery Epstein singled him home two batters later. Epstein was caught stealing later in the inning, and that proved troublesome when Aydon Chavis tripled later in that at-bat. Goodall and Epstein each had two hits to pace the TCNJ offense.
 
New Jersey City got that run back in the bottom of the fifth, renewing its two-run lead at 3-1. TCNJ came back in the top of the sixth with another run to once again pull to within one. Jack Haynes singled to lead off the inning, and he scored on Sebastian JnoBaptiste's double to left center. That made it 3-2 NJCU.
 
NJCU answered the Lions' run again with one of its own in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-2 NJCU.
 
The Lions made things interesting in the top of the ninth. Goodall got his second hit with a leadoff single through the left side, and pinch hitter Grant Sible singled to right to put the tying run on base. After a sac bunt moved the tying run into scoring position, a pop out and a strikeout ended the Lions' threat and the game.
 
Epstein also tripled in the third inning.
 
GAME TWO: TCNJ 13, NJCU 2
The Lions opened the offensive floodgates in the second inning in support of freshman hurler Jordan Gray, who earned his first career victory. Chavis' two-run single scored Ozkowski and Goodall to make it 2-0, and the Lions never looked back.
 
The burst came in the third, and NJCU created it for the Lions with a host of self-inflicted errors. The Lions were more than happy to oblige, scoring five unearned runs thanks to five NJCU errors and just one hit. The first four hitters reached via error, and Oczkowski's single as the fifth batter of the inning resulted in him reaching second on a misplay in the outfield.
 
Oczkowski later scored on a wild pitch on ball four to Chavis.
 
The Lions earned their three runs in the fourth, using singles from Chris Cote, Chris Reeder and Goodall to load the bases with nobody out. Epstein had an RBI groundout two batters later, and Oczkowski paid off the rally with a two-run single to left to make it 10-0. Oczkowski went 4-for-4 with a triple.
 
This was all more than enough for Gray, who got that first victory thanks to a strong performance. He went seven innings, allowing just two unearned runs on five hits. He also fanned four.
Reeder went 3-for-6 with a double, and Chavis was 2-for-2 with two walks and three RBIs.
 
TCNJ returns to action at Rowan on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.