By William Guttman
Staff Writer
The Lions finished up their regular season this week with strong performances in four out of five games. The team finished with a record of 27-7 overall and 14-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, good for the top seed in the tournament.
The College opened the week hosting Arcadia University on April 24. A nine-run first inning by the Lions was more than enough to stave off 23-11 Arcadia by a score of 11-6.
Junior starting pitcher Andrew Rowan improved to 3-1 with the win, while senior pitcher Matt Curry earned his seventh save of the season.
On Thursday, April 26, the Lions traveled to Wayne, New Jersey to take on William Paterson University. Junior starting pitcher Michael Fischer was stellar in the Lions’ 7-1 road victory, striking out seven batters without allowing a single walk in a complete-game win.
The Lions then headed to Kean University in Union, New Jersey for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 28.
In the first game, the Lions held a lead from the top of the first all the way until the bottom of the ninth, when Kean scored three runs to steal the game from the Lions, 6-5.
The second game was an intensely close battle. Senior pitcher Brandon Zachary pitched for the Lions for nine innings — allowing just two runs, one unearned, but the teams were knotted at two after the standard 54 outs.
Freshman pitcher Nickolas Kleftogiannis shut down Kean for his two relief innings. Junior infielder Ryan Fischer then scored on an error in the 12th inning to put the Lions up 3-2. Curry closed the game to earn his second save of the week and eighth of the season.
In their final game of the regular season, the Lions hosted William Paterson after the game was postponed from Friday, April 27 to Sunday, April 29 due to inclement weather.
After honoring the team’s eight seniors for their contributions throughout their careers at the College, the Lions pounced with 17 hits and 12 runs. Rowan earned the win for the College, while Ryan Fischer led the way for the offense with three hits and two RBIs.
The Lions moved into postseason play as the No. 1 seed in the NJAC on Tuesday, May 1 at George Ackerman Park against William Paterson.
