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EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team is still kicking after a dramatic ninth-inning comeback victory in Game 3 of their NJAC Tournament quarterfinal series against Ramapo. With that series in the rearview mirror, the Lions now turn their attention to the NJAC semifinals against William Paterson.
 
The best-of-three series at William Paterson begins with two games on Friday at noon and 4 p.m. If the teams split on Friday, Game 3 will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
A SEASON-SAVING COMEBACK
The Lions entered the top of the ninth inning of Game 3 at Ramapo trailing, 3-1. The Lions were three outs from elimination, and the offense to that point in the game had just a run on five hits and hadn't scored since a fourth inning double by Ryan Goodall scored Chris Cote.
 
Joe Oczkowski led off the ninth inning with a single, and Cameron Cane followed with a walk. After an out, Jack Haynes walked to load the bases. Sebastian JnoBaptiste followed with another walk, forcing home Oczkowski to make it 3-2 Ramapo.
 
Ramapo got a strikeout for the second out of the inning with the tying run still 90 feet away, and that set the stage for Goodall to have the season rest on his at-bat.
 
The freshman came through again.
 
Goodall ripped a two-run double to left field, scoring both Haynes and pinch runner Michael Schumacher to give the Lions a 4-3 lead. Goodall earned NJAC Rookie of the Week honors following the series with Ramapo.
 
With all the momentum, the offense pressed forward. Chris Reeder was hit by a pitch, and Avery Epstein followed with a two-run single to make it 6-3. An error on an Oczkowski grounder allowed Reeder to score, making it 7-3. David Stec blanked Ramapo in the bottom of the ninth to allow the Lions to advance.
 
NJAC TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
With its two wins against Ramapo, TCNJ has now won at least two games in five of the last six NJAC Tournaments. The Lions won four games in both 2017 and 2019 on their way to championships in both seasons. The Lions will need six victories to win the 2021 tournament with the change in format to three best-of-three series.
 
TCNJ also won two games in both 2015 and 2016.
 
PITCHING SUCCESSES
The Lions' pitching staff is ranked near the top of the conference in two important statistics: hits allowed per nine innings and strikeouts per nine innings.
 
TCNJ is allowing just 8.7 hits per nine innings, good for third in the NJAC and 63^rd nationally out of 371 teams. The Lions are also striking out eight batters per nine innings, second in the conference to Rowan's 8.8.
 
Ben Amon leads the Lions with 33 strikeouts, and Chris Cassini has struck out 25 batters in just 13.1 innings. Cassini is also holding opponents to a .167 batting average, best on the team.