MONTCLAIR, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team opened the NJAC Tournament with a first-round game at No. 25 Montclair State on Tuesday afternoon. The Red Hawks were newly added to the national poll earlier on Tuesday, but the Lions pushed the Red Hawks throughout the contest. In the end, Montclair held off a ninth-inning TCNJ rally to win, 3-2.
 
Andrew Fernandez led the Lions with three hits, including a home run, as he came a single shy of hitting for the cycle. Joey Cruciata also had three hits, including a double.
 
Montclair State scored twice early off TCNJ starter Ben Amon, plating runs in both the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Amon settled in the middle innings, allowing just one hit from the fourth through the sixth innings.
 
That kept the Lions in the game until their offense found their footing. The Lions loaded the bases in the fifth inning without the benefit of a hit, but they couldn't push a run across.
 
The Lions got on the board in the top of the seventh. Fernandez tripled with one out, and he scored on Michael Schumacher's RBI single. Cruciata followed with a double to right center to put two runners in scoring position with just one out. Again, those runners were stranded. It was still 2-1 MSU.
 
Montclair got that run back in the home half of the seventh, using a leadoff double to push its lead to 3-1. Amon's day ended following the seventh inning, and Chris Cassini set the Red Hawks down in order in the bottom of the eighth.
 
In the ninth, Fernandez led off with his third home run of the season, moving him into a tie for second place on the team. He's now slugging .554 with a .941 OPS.
 
The rally didn't end there. After an out, Cruciata singled and Lagravenis walked. The Lions had the go-ahead run on base, but back-to-back-strikeouts ended it.
 
With the defeat, TCNJ will now play at noon on Friday at Kean. The remainder of the double-elimination NJAC Tournament will take place at Kean over the weekend.
 
The Lions will face top-seeded Rowan, the fourth-ranked team in the nation. The Profs lost to Ramapo, 16-13, in their first-round game.