RAHWAH, N.J. – During its four-game winning streak to close the regular season, the TCNJ baseball team twice entered the ninth inning trailing and twice came out with a victory. That four-game winning streak was pivotal in the Lions moving out of a bottom-four seed in the NJAC tournament and avoiding the dreaded single elimination play-in game.
Now, as the sixth-seed at Ramapo in the deciding game of the best-of-three quarterfinal series, the Lions entered the top of the ninth inning trailing, 3-1. The stakes were higher, with just three outs separating the Lions from the offseason. Instead, TCNJ rallied for six runs in the frame to stun Ramapo, 7-3.
Heading into that final at-bat, the TCNJ offense had one run on five hits, and it hadn't scored since a fourth inning
Ryan Goodall double 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, the newly-named NJAC Player and Rookie of the Year, 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.
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 pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to eliminate Ramapo and move the Lions into next week's NJAC semifinal at William Paterson.
Goodall, Epstein and Oczkowki each had two hits, accounting for six of the Lions' eight hits.
Chris Cassini got the start for the Lions, holding Ramapo to just two runs and two hits through six innings. He struck out 12 hitters in those six innings, the highest total for a TCNJ pitcher since
Brandon Zachary struck out 13 in a March 2018 game against Knox.
Zach Gelo earned the win in middle relief, pitching two innings while allowing just a run on one hit. Cassini and Gelo kept the Lions in the game until the ninth, when the offense awakened and pushed the Lions into the next round of the playoffs.
TCNJ and William Paterson are scheduled to open their best-of-three-NJAC series on Friday with a pair of games.
