AUBURNDALE, Fla. - The TCNJ baseball team kicked off their second week in Florida with a game against Johns Hopkins Monday afternoon, falling 15-5 to the third-ranked Blue Jays.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
Monday's opening inning belonged to Johns Hopkins (13-1), which turned two hits and a Lions error into four runs to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. TCNJ (5-5) quickly cut into the lead with a three-run top of the second in which Andrew Fernandez and Jack O'Donnell tallied RBIs, but a five-run bottom of the frame almost immediately put the Lions back down 9-3.
 
TCNJ threatened to trim the deficit once again in the fourth inning after Fernandez and Jake Carter found themselves in scoring position, but an untimely, two-out strikeout kept the Lions off the board. Instead, it was Hopkins adding two runs in the home half of the inning and three more in the fifth to take a commanding 14-3 lead.
 
TCNJ scored two in the sixth off the bat of O'Donnell – the junior's second two-RBI hit of the day – while Jack Reardon and Jalen Maharaja combined to toss two scoreless innings to avoid falling victim to the seven-inning rune-rule. The game would not go much further, however, with an RBI single off the bat of the Blue Jays' Campbell Framke scoring the runner from third and closing the game, 15-5 after eight.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• O'Donnell went 3-5 at the plate with a season-high four RBIs.
• Fernandez also impressed at the dish, going 2-4 with the Lions' lone other RBI.
• Carter led TCNJ with two runs scored.
• Reardon tossed a nearly perfect sixth inning, fanning two and allowing a walk in a shutout frame.

UP NEXT

• The Lions are back in action Tuesday, March 18 for a doubleheader against St. John's. First pitch of the twin bill is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.