EWING, N.J. – A day after needing three runs with two outs in the ninth inning to earn a victory over Rutgers-Camden, the TCNJ baseball team left little doubt on Friday afternoon at windy George Ackerman Park. The Lions' offense came in waves late as it pounded out 17 runs on 16 hits in a 17-11 victory over the Scarlet Raptors. TCNJ served as the designated visiting team for the game.
The Lions scored three in the first thanks to a
Cameron Cane RBI single and a two-run single from
Joe Oczkowski.
TCNJ actually trailed early in the game despite the fast start. Rutgers-Camden scored five times in the second and third innings to take a 5-3 lead, but
Sebastian JnoBaptiste cut the lead to a run with an infield single in the top of the fourth.
Rutgers-Camden added on, though, in the fourth with a two-run home run and an RBI single to extend its lead to 8-4. And that started the TCNJ comeback.
Ryan Goodall hit the first of his two home runs in the top of the fifth to make it 8-5. Later in the inning,
Aydon Chavis had a two-run single to make it 8-7, and
Jack Haynes followed with a bases-loaded walk to tie the score.
Chris Cote's fielder's choice scored Chavis, and the Lions were suddenly ahead, 9-8.
The big blast came in the seventh. Goodall hit the second of his two home runs with both Cote and Haynes aboard, pushing the Lions' advantage to 12-8. Goodall has two multi-home run games in the last week.
Rutgers-Camden got one back in its half of the seventh, but the Lions replied with three more in the eighth and two more in the ninth to expand its lead to 17-9.
Nicholas Marcelli had an RBI single in the eighth as part of the rally.
Two runs from Rutgers-Camden in the bottom of the ninth didn't put the outcome in any doubt.
Six Lions had multi-hit games, led by Goodall's 3-for-5 with five RBIs. Haynes, JnoBaptiste, Cane, Oczkowski and Chavis all had two hits. Oczkowski and
Avery Epstein each walked three times. Oczkowski reached base five times, and Epstein was on four times.
Nicholas Scerbo earned the victory in relief, holding the fort while the Lions leaped ahead in the middle innings.
TCNJ concludes the regular season with a road doubleheader at Kean on Saturday.
