UNION, N.J. - The TCNJ baseball team was on the road to take on seventh-ranked Kean Saturday afternoon, falling 2-4 in Game 1 before dropping Game 2, 7-3 to suffer their second straight sweep.
 
GAME 1: Kean 4, TCNJ 2
 
The Lions (20-14, 8-6 NJAC) registered just a lone hit through their first four innings at the plate before the Cougars (30-5, 14-0 NJAC) broke open the scoring with two runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-0 lead in Game 1. Finally able to break through in the top of the sixth, TCNJ strung together a trio of hits to score two and trim Kean's lead in half.
 
Zach Weiner got the inning started with a single to left field, advancing to second after Mike LaGravenis registered his own single. A walk drawn by Gianni Marano loaded the bases and set up Ryan Goodall to find the hole between third base and shortstop to score Weiner and LaGravenis and make it a 4-2 game.
 
The Lions threatened once again in the seventh, getting three runners on, but were unable to convert against starter Jason Gilman before TCNJ's next six batters were retired by reliever Jason Basilicata, resulting in the 4-2 loss.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Goodall: 1-4, 2 RBIs
• Zach Hochheiser: 2-4

GAME 2: Kean 7, TCNJ 3
 
The Lions struck first in Game 2, holding a 3-2 lead midway through the contest before a four-run fifth inning gave the Cougars a lead they would hold the rest of the way.
 
LaGravenis opened Saturday's rematch with a triple, scoring on the ensuing at-bat when Jack O'Donnell hit a sacrifice fly to left to take the early 1-0 lead. After Kean scored a pair in the second to jump in front 2-1, RBIs by Marano and Fernandez – the senior's coming on his fifth home run of the season – quickly gave TCNJ back the lead at 3-2 . That advantage was short-lived, however, with a four-run fifth inning putting the Cougars back in front 6-3.
 
The Lions had two runners on with no one out in the top of the sixth following singles from Hochheiser and Tyler Provost, but TCNJ's next three batters went down to halt the comeback attempt. Instead it was the Cougars adding a run in the eighth, with Kean's Lucas White allowing just a single in the ninth to hand the Lions the 7-3 loss and series sweep.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• LaGravenis: 3-4, 2 Runs
• Fernandez: 1-4, 1 HR

UP NEXT

• The Lions continue their four-game road trip with a matchup against Arcadia Tuesday, April 22. First pitch for TCNJ's non-conference finale is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.