By Jhett Laurie
Staff Writer
The College’s baseball team took on both Rutgers satellite campuses in what turned out to be a promising week for the Lions’ conference play. A late-game surge pushed the College past Rutgers-Camden on Thursday, April 3, giving them a massive win over a strong team to start the week.
Rutgers-Camden would take a 3-1 lead midway through the game before the Lions' offense would awaken in the sixth inning. On an attempted pick-off with the bases loaded and two outs, the Lions would capitalize on a throwing error by the Scarlet Raptors’ pitcher, bringing home a run.
Rutgers-Camden would then pad their lead on a throwing error in the top of the seventh, making the score 4-2. However, this would not prove to be enough for a hungry Lions offense. Recording his third hit of the day, senior Mike LaGravenis would reach on a single after recording two doubles on the day.
Fifth-year Gianni Marano would then step up to the plate to cut away at Rutgers-Camden’s lead, and he would do just that. Marano would record his third home run of the season, tying the game in the seventh at four.
Sophomore pitcher Evan Frank would throw a decisive 2.1 innings to close out the game, allowing zero hits and two walks, earning a win on the day. Fifth-year Ryan Goodall would give the Lions the lead in the bottom of the eighth, hammering the first pitch of the inning over the trees in center field. Goodall tallied his 28th career home run, bringing him to fifth all-time in Lions baseball history. LaGravenis tallied his 150th career run scored during this game as well.
The Lions then traveled to Camden the next day to face off against Rutgers-Camden for the second and final game of the series. Marano would open the scoring in the first inning with a two-run home run to give the Lions an early 2-0 lead. Rutgers-Camden would then chip away at the Lions' lead through the first and second innings, with five hits bringing across four runs to make the score 4-2.
Rutgers-Camden would add insurance in the fourth with a solo home run, creating a three-run deficit. Senior Andrew Fernandez would cut into the lead with an RBI double in the fifth inning before Goodall would give the Lions the lead again in the sixth inning with a three-run home run. This would be Goodall’s 29th career home run, moving him to third all-time at the College.
Rutgers-Camden would answer in the bottom of the sixth, putting up a single run to tie the game. With a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh, the Scarlet Raptors would take the final lead of the game on a two-out RBI single.
Saturday, April 5 saw the College face off against yet another Rutgers team, this time Rutgers-Newark, in a doubleheader. The first game of the day saw the Lions take a controlling lead in the first inning, and there was no looking back from there.
After strong discipline allowed the Lions to load the bases off walks, senior Justin Marcario drew the fourth walk in a row to bring home the first run of the game. Goodall would crush a grand slam, bringing home four runs and tallying his 30th career home run.
Marcario, along with Goodall, would do a lot of the heavy lifting through the first five innings, bringing home four of the Lions' nine runs on two hits and a walk. Already holding a 9-1 lead in the sixth, the Lions offense did not let up, tallying eight runs on five hits, including sophomore Jake Carter's first career triple.
Carter would record a career-high four hits in the game. Sixth-year Ben Amon would record six innings pitched and eight strikeouts during his outing. This would be Amon’s 20th career win. The Lions would win 20-2.
The second game was a much closer contest, with the Lions squeaking out a win in extra innings. The first two innings were rather quiet, with no hits recorded. The College struck first in the top of the third, with Marano scoring LaGravenis on a single.
More quiet innings ensued as the Lions struggled to score any insurance runs. Senior pitcher Jackson Malouf was dominant on the mound, allowing only one baserunner through the first four innings. Rutgers-Newark would break the tension in the fifth, scoring with a two-run single.
The College managed to put runners in scoring position in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, yet they were not able to capitalize on this, entering the ninth trailing. With the game on the line, Fernandez took the reins, hitting a triple to lead off the inning. During the next at-bat, Fernandez would score on a wild pitch, tying the game and sending the Lions to extras for the first time this season.
The added pressure was no sweat for pitcher Evan Frank, as he locked down Rutgers-Newark’s offense, letting up only one hit. Frank would also come up clutch in the 11th inning, drawing a walk in a messy situation that saw the pitcher step in the batter’s box. His walk seemed to be the spark for the Lions’ offense, as a single and two more walks saw them take the lead that inning.
Goodall would strike yet again as he cleared the bases with a three-RBI double, bringing his total RBIs on the week to 12. The four-run deficit would be too much for Rutgers-Newark to overcome, and the College would win 6-4.
Goodall received baseball Player of the Week nods from the New Jersey Athletic Conference after going 5-9 with three home runs and 12 RBIs. He also was named to the D3Baseball Team of the Week at the catcher position.
Malouf would throw nine strong innings, striking out 12 batters and allowing only two runs. He currently sits at a 1.33 ERA on the season. Malouf also tallied his 200th career strikeout in this game.
The Lions moved to 16-8 on the year and 5-1 in the conference. As of April 8, they sit at third behind No. 11 Kean and Montclair State. The Lions will make their yearly trip to Trenton Thunder Stadium on April 10 at 6 p.m. They will face a young Stockton team and look to stay hot in the conference.
