EWING, N.J. - The TCNJ baseball team put together two of its most dominant performances of the season in the Lions' sweep of New Jersey City Sunday afternoon, cruising to a 17-0, Game 1 win before nearly mirroring their success in a 12-0 Game 2 win to complete the sweep.
 
GAME 1: TCNJ 17, NJCU 0
 
There was little to separate the sides in the first two innings of Sunday's opener before a four-run third inning blew the game open. Mike LaGravenis led off the inning with a double, advancing to third on a wild pitch. Now just 90 feet from home, a Gianni Marano single was all it took to score the game's first run and give TCNJ (19-10, 8-2 NJAC) a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lions were not done yet, however, as Marano scored two at-bats later on a single off the bat of Justin Marcario to double TCNJ's lead before Ryan Goodall went yard to make it a 4-0 game.
 
Three Gothic Knights (10-17-1, 1-9 NJAC) outs later, Andrew Fernandez, LaGravenis and Jack O'Donnell all earned free bases to load them up with just one out. Fernandez scored on a wild pitch before LaGravenis and O'Donnell scored off a two-RBI single from Marcario, ballooning the Lions' lead to 7-0 through four.
 
While Ben Amon continued to plow through the Gothic Knights' order, it was TCNJ adding a trio of runs in the sixth before a pair of home runs in the eighth and ninth innings added to the rout.
 
The eighth inning of Game 1 saw Marcario score the 12th run of the game, with a double later in the inning putting two on with two outs. Stepping to the plate to pinch hit was Mike Doran, who launched his first home run of the season to left center to make it 15-0. One inning later, it was Chris Salmon hitting his first collegiate home run to right, giving the Lions an insurmountable 17-0 advantage.
 
Joe Fererri returned for a second inning of work out of the bullpen, allowing a lone single in the bottom of the ninth to clinch TCNJ's second shutout win of the season and first since March 1.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Amon went seven strong, allowing just four hits and fanning a season-high nine.
• Marcario finished 4-4 with five RBIs and two runs.
• Goodall went 2-4 on the day with two runs and three RBIs.
  • The graduate student's home run was his fifth of the season.

GAME 2: TCNJ 12, NJCU 0
 
Sunday's finale told much of the same story, with Jackson Malouf tossing a near no-hitter while an eight-run, sixth inning lifted the Lions to another dominant win.
 
Brian Lovaglio brought home the game's opening run in the second inning on a sac fly to give TCNJ the only run it would need. LaGravenis would then get the Lions' bats going again in the fifth with a solo shot to left field before TCNJ erupted for eight runs in the sixth inning to all but put the game out of reach.
 
Marcario led off the inning with a solo home run to center field before Ryan Goodall got himself on in the ensuing at-bat with a single. After a fly out served as the first of the inning, the Lions rattled off three straight doubles to balloon the lead to 6-0. A single by Gianni Marano would score LaGravenis to build the lead to seven, and with the bases loaded it was Goodall hitting a bases-clearing double to push TCNJ's advantage to double digits at 10-0.
 
Malouf, who was in the midst of a no-hitter through five, finally gave up a hit in the sixth inning but nothing further it one of the senior's most impressive performances of the season.
 
A pair of RBI doubles off the bats of O'Donnell and Marano made it a dozen, with both sides going quiet in the final two innings en route to the 12-0 win and sweep in convincing fashion.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Malouf tossed his second complete game of the season, allowing just two hits and fanning seven in nine innings.
• LaGravenis went 4-6 with three runs and two RBIs.
• Goodall finished 3-4 with two runs and three RBIs.
• Marano (2) and Marcario (2) also finished with multiple hits.

NOTES

• Fernandez reached a trio of milestones in the sweep, eclipsing 150 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBIs for his career.
• Goodall moved into a tie for second in program history in career homers with his 31st in Sunday's opener.
• Amon surpassed 300 innings pitched for his career, making him just the second player in program history to achieve the feat.
• Marcario's six hits on the day moved him into 15th in program history with 189 for his career.

UP NEXT

• The Lions are back home Tuesday, April 15 to take on Immaculata. First pitch of TCNJ's penultimate non-conference game is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.