EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team wore gold uniform tops for the first time in more than 30 years on Saturday in the team's home doubleheader with Dickinson, and the Lions shook off an 8-3 loss in the first game to defeat the Red Devils, 8-4, in game two.
Game One: Dickinson 8, TCNJ 3
Dickinson bookended its offensive output in game one with three-run innings in the first and ninth innings. In the first, the Red Devils loaded the bases with one out, and Luke Jackson hit a bases-clearing double to center. That staked Dickinson to the early 3-0 lead.
TCNJ starter
Ben Amon settled after that first inning, racking up a season-high nine strikeouts without issuing a walk in his seven innings of work. He kept the score at 3-0 until the Lions got on the board in the bottom of the fifth.
The Lions took advantage of a porous Dickinson defense to get that run in the fifth.
Ryan Goodall reached on an error and ended up at second base after the poor throw to first on his grounder. Standing at second, Goodall scored on
Chris Cote's single up the middle to make it 3-1.
After Dickinson got another run in the top of the sixth, the Lions replied with one of their own to make it 4-2. With
Joe Oczkowski on,
Justin Marcario singled and
Zach Weiner walked to load the bases.
Jack Haynes earned an RBI the hard way when he was hit by a pitch. That forced home Oczkowski for the Lions' second run.
The Lions just couldn't make it all the way back, though. A Dickinson run in the seventh and a three-run homer in the ninth made it 8-2 as the Lions had their last shot. Haynes led off with a double, and Cote doubled him home two batters later to make it 8-3.
Marcario (three hits), Cote (three hits) and Haynes (two hits) accounted for the eight Lions' hits in the game.
Game Two: TCNJ 8, Dickinson 4
The Lions salvaged game two after trailing through the early portion of the game. Dickinson scored twice in the first and once in the second to take a 3-0 lead, but TCNJ clawed back with two runs in the bottom of that inning.
With Cote at third and Reeder at first with one out,
Sebastian JnoBaptiste singled through the left side to plate Cote. After an Oczkowski walk to load the bases,
Zach Weiner flied out to center to bring home Reeder to make it 3-2.
The big swing came in the bottom of the fifth with the score now 4-2 Dickinson. Cote singled home
Mike Lagravenis to make it 4-3, and the Lions came through in the clutch with a pair of RBI hits with two outs to jump ahead of the Devils.
Marcario doubled home Cote to tie the score, and JnoBaptiste had another RBI single as he scored Reeder on his base hit to left. That gave TCNJ its first lead of the day at 5-4.
Reeder made a couple of tough catches behind the plate as the wind and rain swirled intermittently through George Ackerman Park, creating just enough havoc to make balls in the air a little less than routine.
The Lions added on in the eighth. The bases were loaded with one out after a JnoBaptiste walk, a Weiner single and a Lagravenis walk. Haynes knocked a single to center to score JnoBaptiste for an insurance run, and two more scored on a fielding error to salt the game away.
A pair of walks in the ninth threatened to make the game interesting, but TCNJ converted a 4-6-3 double play to end it.
Michael Silver earned the victory in middle relief. He allowed just one hit and no walks in two innings as the Lions jumped ahead of Dickinson during his relief stint.
TCNJ returns home to face Penn State Abington on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
