MIDDLETOWN, Pa.  - The TCNJ baseball team played in three different games in an action-packed Day 2 of the NCAA PSU-Harrisburg Regional Saturday, dropping to the loser's bracket following a loss to the second-seeded hosts in the opener before bouncing back with a win over fourth-seeded Keene State. TCNJ's third game, a rematch against Penn State Harrisburg with a spot in the regional final on the line, went seven and a half strong before eventually being called due to darkness.
 
GAME 1: PSU-Harrisburg 10, TCNJ 5
 
The Lions (27-18-1) opened their Saturday slate with a continuation of Friday's opener against Penn State Harrisburg that was delayed due to weather, falling 10-5 to the host Lions. Missed opportunities were the deciding factor in the game, with TCNJ leaving 10 runners on base in the regional-opening loss.
 
PSU Harrisburg (34-12-1) flexed their bats early in the contest, scoring four via a two-RBI homer and two-RBI triple to take a 4-0 lead after one. The lead was doubled with another four-run third inning to put the Lions (27-19-1) down 8-0.
 
TCNJ finally got itself on the board with a pair in the fourth inning on RBIs from Zach Hochheiser and Tyler Provost to trim into the lead. Ryan Goodall hit a leadoff single before Justin Marcario ripped an opposite field double to put two in scoring position. Hochheiser was next to the plate, hitting a grounder down the first base line to score Goodall before Marcario crossed home plate on a Provost single to right.
 
That would be all the action for Friday as the game was called for lightning before action picked back up Saturday morning where John DiCostanzo – the junior had registered the first two outs of the fourth inning for the Lions – returned for the restart and made quick work of PSU Harrisburg's final batter to close out the frame..
 
The Lions added two more in the top of the fifth inning on a two-RBI single by Hochheiser to cut the lead to four, but a sac fly in the home half built the lead back to five before the sides traded runs in the eighth en route to the 10-5 loss for TCNJ.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• DiCostanzo: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER
• Hochheiser: 1-5, 3 RBI

GAME 2: TCNJ 4, Keene State 1
Jackson Malouf and Ryan Goodall were all the Lions needed in their first elimination game against fourth-seeded Keene State Saturday afternoon, with Malouf tossing his fourth complete game of the season on the mound while Goodall accounted for three of TCNJ's four runs in the 4-1 win.
 
After both teams went down in order in the first inning, it was the Owls (25-17) scoring the game's first run on a single through the left side to take a 1-0 lead. That advantage was short-lived, however, with a misplayed cutoff throw on a sacrifice fly allowing Goodall to cross home plate from second to level things at one.
 
Both sides were quiet again in the third inning before the Lions took the lead for good in the fourth inning on Goodall's seventh home run of the season. Two innings later it was Justin Marcario's turn to get in on the action, with the senior going yard for the first time since April 13 to score himself and Goodall – the graduate student reached via his second double of the afternoon earlier in the frame – to make it a 4-1 game.
 
Back on the mound, Malouf allowed nothing more than a pair of hits in the ensuing three innings to earn the complete-game win – the senior's team-best eighth victory of the season – and stave off elimination.
 
STANDOUT LIONS

• Malouf: 9 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 K
• Goodall: 3-4, 2 2B, 1 HR, 3 R
• Marcario: 1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI

GAME 3: TCNJ 5, PSU-Harrisburg 0 (incomplete)
TCNJ held a 5-0 lead over the Lions through seven and a half innings in Saturday's finale, but for the second time in as many days the game was left unfinished due to a weather delay. Jordan Gray tossed seven shutout frames on the mound, with a five-run fourth inning serving as the difference before the game was called.
 
Action will resume tomorrow at 11 AM with a spot in the regional final on the line. If the Lions hold on to win they would go on to play top-seeded Salve Regina in the regional final, needing to win twice to punch their ticket to the Super Regionals for the first time in program history.