Game 1 box score
Game 2 box score
Chandler, AZ... The College of New Jersey baseball team split a double-header with Keene State College taking the first game 9-7 before dropping the back-end game in a slugfest 14-10.
Down 12-2 heading into the seventh inning of game two, the Lions staged a tremendous comeback scoring eight unanswered runs. But the deficit was too much to overcome as the Owls (1-1) notched their first win of 2010.
Junior
Jason Zegarski (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence) laced five hits on the day and has now hit safely in all eight games this season. Junior
Connor Henderson (Monmouth Jct, NJ/South Brunswick) notched his second win in two starts giving TCNJ an important with against an Owls squad that was 26-17 in 2009 and returned most of their starters.
Game 1
The Lions received another big day from backstop
Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) as the sophomore collected three hits, scored a pair of runs and drove in another. Galeotafiore is hitting at a .481 clip through seven games this season. He and junior
Jason Zegarski (Lawrenceville, NJ/Lawrence), who went 3-for-6 with a run scored, have hit safely in all seven games this season.
Senior
Connor Henderson (Monmouth Jct., NJ/South Brunswick) picked up his second win of the season gutting out 6 1/3 innings against a talented Owls line-up. Henderson (2-0) struck out six ,scattering eight hits, and provided the Lions with the mound presence they needed to seize the opener.
TCNJ (3-4) fell behind 1-0 in the third but came back with four runs in the bottom frame. Run-scoring singles by senior
Chris Esperon (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) and sophomore
Tom Wile (Maplewood, Nj/St. Peter's Prep) highlighted the inning. The rally was ignited by an
Anthony Palmiotto (Manchester, NJ/Manchester Twp.) triple down the left-field line to start the inning.
Much to the liking of head coach Dean Glus, the Lions kept the offensive pressure on Keene State adding a run in the fourth and two runs in the fifth and sixth to stretch their lead to9-3. Freshman
Scott Kelly (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-North) drove three runs with a pair of hits, while senior
Ryan Anzelone (Vernon, NJ/Vernon) also knocked in two.
Senior
Adam Adamczyk (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) pitched out of jam when he entered the game in the seventh and gave TCNJ a quality effort out of the bullpen. Adamczyk threw an inning and third of scoreless relief striking out three. Junior
Joe Marchitelli (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) got into some trouble in the ninth, but maintained his poise to close out the win.
Game 2
Led by Kyle Morrill’s 3-run home run and five RBIs, the Owls knocked out 15 hits en route to a 14-10 victory over the Lions. Leadoff hitter Keith Patnode had four hits to augment his 3-hit game in the opener going 7-for-9 on the day.
TCNJ trailed early as Keene St. put up a four-spot on three hits in the second inning. The Lions got one back in the third when Kelly roped an RBI triple to center field, but the Owls came back with two in the third and six more in the sixth.
TCNJ battled back with three runs in the top of the seventh. Palmiotto walked, Zegarski singled, and Kelly walked. Esperon grounded into a questionable 6-4-3 double play to score Palmiotto, and Zegarski came home on Cifelli’s infield single. Anzelone followed with a gapper to right-center field to close the gap to 12-5.
The Lions roared back with five more in eighth taking advantage of four, Keene St. walks. Anzelone singled in another run before Galeotafiore came off the bench to deliver a two-run, pinch-hit single to make it a 12-10 game. But the Owls tacked on a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to secure their first win of the 2010 season.
Zegarski, Kelly, Esperon, Cifelli, and Anzelone all had two hits for the Lions. Zegarski scored four times while Anzelone knocked in two. Freshman
Matt Carlson (Hawthorne, NJ/DePaul Catholic) did fine job in relief allowing TCNJ to make their late-inning run.
The Lions wrap up their Arizona trip with a game against Western New England College tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. (MT).