EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team got off to a bit of an unlucky start in Wednesday's non-conference game with Delaware Valley, allowing four runs in the first two innings aided by three infield singles. Despite the early hole, the Lions scored seven times in the third inning and eight more in the seventh to defeat the Aggies, 18-4.
The Lions took the lead for good with that seven-run third inning. The first five Lions reached base, and all five scored.
Mike Lagravenis and
Jack Haynes led off with singles, and Lagravenis scored on
Ryan Goodall's double to the wall in left. After
Chris Cote walked,
Chris Reeder singled home Haynes and Goodall to make it 4-3 Delaware Valley.
After two outs,
Michael Schumacher got a big hit by singling home Cote and Reeder to push the Lions ahead, 5-4.
Zach Weiner followed with a walk, and the two runners moved ahead a base on a wild pitch. That proved crucial as Lagravenis picked up his second hit in the inning on a single to center. That made it 7-4.
Jordan Gray settled after the tough luck in the first couple innings. He went six innings to earn the win, moving his record to 3-0. He struck out three while forcing 10 groundouts and two inning-ending double plays. The Lions turned four double plays in all.
The Lions blew the game open in the seventh. TCNJ scored eight times, all unearned and all after two outs. A leadoff error allowed
Justin Marcario to reach, and he later scored on a Haynes single. Another Goodall double scored Weiner and Haynes to make it 10-4. Cote doubled home Goodall to make it 11-4, and
Joe Oczkowski and Marcario each had RBI hits to bring home a run. Schumacher capped the inning with another two-out, two-run base hit to make it 15-4.
TCNJ reserves got into the fun in the eighth.
Christian Hay single home Lagravenis to make it 16-4, and back-to-back RBI doubles from
Andrew Fernandez and
Zack Bowman made it 18-4.
Lagravenis was 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs. Schumacher was 3-for-4, and Goodall, Haynes and Oczkowski all had two hits.
TCNJ hit six doubles, a season high.
Michael Silver pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Gray to earn the save.
The Lions play at Drew on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. before returning home to face New Jersey City on Saturday for an NJAC doubleheader at 11:30 a.m.
