GLASSBORO, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team's bats fell silent in a 7-2 NJAC loss at 18^th-ranked Rowan on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Lions (20-11, 8-3) didn't score until the sixth inning and went hitless until the eighth as the Profs took the opener of the home-and-home series behind a gem from Zach Coluccio. The right-hander allowed an unearned run over seven no-hit frames.
 
Ryan Goodall started at DH in his 170^th career appearance for the Lions, breaking the all-time program record for games played held for more than three decades by Dan Dengler '92.
 
Dan Merkel did his best keep Rowan at arm's length, stranding the bases loaded in each of the first two innings. The hosts scored the opening run on a hit batsman with the bases loaded in the first, but Merkel recovered to strike out the next two batters to avert additional damage.
 
Merkel left men on second and third in the third inning and worked a 1-2-3 fourth, but control issues plagued him in the fifth. He walked the first batter of the inning and hit the next, and both runners eventually scored on a two-RBI single by Joey Bogart.
 
TCNJ got on the board in the sixth without recording a hit. Jack O'Donnell drew a leadoff walk, then stole second and went to third on an errant throw by the Profs' catcher. After Gianni Marano worked a walk to put Lions on the corners with no outs, Coluccio got Zach Hochheiser to ground into a double play, which plated O'Donnell but otherwise killed the potential rally.
 
Rowan (20-8, 5-4) loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth and scored twice to take a 5-1 lead, and an error paved the way for two unearned runs with two outs in the seventh as the blue and gold fell further behind.
 
With Coluccio out of the game, the Lions broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the eighth. With O'Donnell on first after another walk, Marano sent a bouncing ball up the middle, and the Rowan shortstop's last-ditch effort to force out O'Donnell was too late.
 
TCNJ scored in the ninth when Andrew Fernandez hit a two-out double and came around on an RBI single by Brian Lovaglio.
 
Despite their lack of hits, the Lions did draw six walks and were hit by a pitch once, but Rowan induced three double plays to freeze any potential momentum.
 
UP NEXT

• The Lions try to earn a split of the series when the Profs come to George Ackerman Park for a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday