Union, N.J. (4/28/18) – The Kean University baseball team split with The College of New Jersey on Saturday, ensuring a playoff spot in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament which begins on Tuesday.
The Cougars (19-20, 9-8 NJAC) will fall into either fifth or sixth place when all is said and done in the standings. The College of New Jersey claims the top spot regardless of their outcome tomorrow based on possible tiebreakers.
Kean 6, TCNJ 5 (Game One)
Trailing 5-3 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Cougars used back-to-back singles from Chris Vetter and Steve Santigate to get the rally started. Two outs from Matt Curry pushed Kean against the wall, but a fielding miscue by the Lions inched the Cougars closer, 5-4. Sophomore Frank LoGiudice then delivered a walkoff double into the gap in right center for the come-from-behind win.
The Cougars trailed early as TCNJ plated single runs in the first, second, third and fifth to take a 4-0 lead. Kean responded with their first run of the day in the bottom of the fifth to erase the shutout and pulled within one in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from Brandon Johannessen and a sac fly from Zach Joe.
The Lions tacked on a single run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly from David Cardona, scoring Pat Anderson who reached on a leadoff double.
Christopher Rossi earned the complete game win. Rossi (3-2) allowed four earned runs and seven hits while walking four and striking out four.
Curry (1-1) suffered the loss allowing three unearned runs and three hits in two thirds of an inning.
Offensively Vetter was 3-for-4 with two runs scored while Johannessen was 1-for-2 with two RBI.
TCNJ 3, Kean 2 (12 innings) (Game Two)
The College of New Jersey scored on an obstruction call in the top of the 12th to edge the Cougars in the nightcap, 3-2.
In the pivotal 12th Ryan Fischer walked to start the inning. A sacrifice moved him into scoring position and a fly ball put two outs on the board. An intentional pass to Zachary Shindler put runners on first and second and both runners took off on 1-2 pitch. Anthony Laureano and Fischer got tangled up at third with the throw knocking off Laureano's glove and the home plate umpire called obstruction and awarded Fischer home on the play. Austin Lindsay struck out looking on the next pitch to end the inning.
The Cougars got on the board first with a single run in the first off a Lions miscue. TCNJ answered with a single run in the second on a sacrifice fly and took the lead in the third on an RBI groundout.
Kean tied things up at two-all in the fifth as Jimi Fitzgerald led off the frame with a triple and he came around to score on a sac fly from Johannessen.
Offensively Krupa was 3-for-4.
Curry (2-1) earned the win in the nightcap with a scoreless 12th.
Kean concludes the regular season on Sunday when they face Rutgers-Camden at noon.
