EWING, N.J.- The TCNJ baseball team lost on Tuesday in an offensive battle to Franklin & Marshall College by a score of 17-14. All but one of the 31 runs scored in the game crossed home before the bottom of the fifth.
 
After a scoreless first inning and top of the second, TCNJ came out firing in the home half with four runs on two hits and an error. Zach Hochheiser started off the inning working a walk after being behind 1-2 in the count. After a wild pitch advanced him to second, Andrew Fernandez poked a single up the middle to make it first and third. Michael Schumacher plated the first run with a sacrifice fly to right field. After two walks and two outs, Ryan Goodall singled into right-center field, scoring Fernandez and Zach Weiner. An errant transfer on the throw in brought Jack Haynes around third and to home safely, giving the Lions a 4-0 lead early.
 
In the top half of the third, F&M cut the lead in half on one hit and an error to bring the lead to just two.
 
The Lions saw the Diplomats two runs and raised them by another in the third, scoring three runs on two hits. Hochheiser walked once again to start the rally for TCNJ as Fernandez too repeated himself with a single. After a fielder's choice, a stolen base and a hit by pitch, Hochheiser scored on a wild pitch with Jack O'Donnell at the plate. Later in the same at-bat, O'Donnell singled through the right side to score Weiner and Schumacher.
 
F&M retook the lead in the top of the fourth after they put up 13 runs on six hits and one error. However, the Lions rolled with the punches and threw back a haymaker of their own in the fourth as they scored six runs.
 
After three consecutive walks and a strikeout, Fernandez forced a walk to bring in Goodall. The next two batters in Schumacher and Weiner walked and got hit by a pitch consecutively to bring in Chris Reeder and Michael Doran. Haynes walked with two outs to bring in Fernandez. The Lion's batted around but were not finished as Goodall smoked a double to left center field which brought in both Weiner and Schumacher to cut the Diplomats lead to two.
 
Franklin and Marshall answered with two runs in the top of the fifth, extending their margin to four on three hits.
 
At the top of the sixth, Zach Gelo took over pitching duties for the Lions and was superb in relief. In his first outing of 2023, the junior left-hander pitched three scoreless innings while giving three hits, with two strikeouts and two walks.
 
In the seventh, TCNJ inched closer after scoring one run on two hits. After back-to-back hits from Goodall and Reeder, Reeder forced himself into a rundown while on first. The Diplomats were willing to sacrifice an out for a run as Goodall scored while Reeder was being tagged out.
 
After the bottom of the eighth, the game was called due to darkness with the Diplomats leading 17-14.
 
At the plate, Goodall was the driving force for the Lions as he went 4-for-5 with a double, a walk and four RBIs. Fernandez also had a solid day for himself, going 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
 
TCNJ is back out at Ackerman Park on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup with the Aggies of Delaware Valley University starting at 3:30.