WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The TCNJ baseball team played a pair of games at Chain of Lakes Stadium on Friday, losing to Western New England and to Franklin & Marshall. TCNJ closes out its portion of the RussMatt Invitational on Saturday against North Park at 9 a.m.
 
Western New England 7, TCNJ 4
Western New England scored twice in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie and added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to defeat the Lion, 7-4, in TCNJ's first game of the day. Mike Lagravenis and Chris Cote each had three hits, and Jack Haynes walked three times. Michael Schumacher had a double and a pair of hit-batsmen.
 
The Lions scored runs in each of their first two at-bats. Lagravenis led off the bottom of the first with an infield single. He promptly stole second base and later scored on Cote's single to center field.

WNE tied the score in the top of the second on an RBI double, but the highlight of the inning came from catcher Chris Reeder. He made a great play on foul pop at the screen behind home plate. Reeder arrived at an entrance gate built into the backstop just as the ball arrived. Reeder made the catch as he hit the gate, it swung open, and he fell through while holding onto the ball.
 
 TCNJ retook the lead in the home half of the frame. Lagravenis got his second hit in as many innings, and this time it was a two-out single to left to score Schumacher. Schumacher reached base three times.
 
WNE took the lead in the top of the third with a pair of runs, but that was all starter Joseph Felipe allowed as he weaved his way through the Western New England order. He struck out seven in five innings, allowing just four hits.
 
The Lions' offense got Felipe off the hook in the bottom of the sixth, tying the game at 3-3. Lagravenis got his third hit of the day in the inning, a single to center to put two men on with two away. Jack Haynes followed with a walk to load the bases, and TCNJ got the tying score on a WNE miscue.
 
Ryan Goodall was at the plate, and on the first pitch of the at-bat, his swing struck the catcher's mitt. That's an automatic free base, and it forced home Sebastian JnoBaptiste from third base.
 
WNE hit a two-run homer in the seventh to take a 5-3 lead, but the Lions got one of two back in their half. Joe Oczkowski was hit by a pitch, and he moved to second on Zach Hochheiser's single. Schumacher came up and ripped a double to left, scoring Oczkowski. That made it 5-4.
 
With the score still 5-4, WNE loaded the bases in the top of the eighth. With two outs, a long fly towards the right-field foul pole looked like trouble, but JnoBaptiste made a great running grab on the track to keep the deficit at just one run.
 
WNE did add a pair of insurance runs in the ninth, and TCNJ went down in order to end the game in the bottom half.
 
F&M 19, TCNJ 0
The Lions saw this one get away from them early. A two-run first inning for Franklin & Marshall preceded a five-run second inning for the Diplomats. In that five-run second, a grand slam by Spencer Berson made it 7-0 F&M.
 
Even with the score running against TCNJ, the Lions still flashed the leather. In the bottom of the third with two on and two outs, Schumacher made a diving catch coming towards the infield to end the inning.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning with F&M ahead, 8-0, a double to the wall in left turned into another outstanding TCNJ defensive play. Haynes took the ball off a bounce on the track, and his throw hit cut-off man Cote. Cote's relay to the plate beat the baserunner by a step, and TCNJ catcher Jack Felipe held on for the tag and the out.
 
Hayes and Schumacher each had hits for the Lions.