Trenton, NJ: The Ramapo College baseball team clinched a spot in the upcoming NJAC Tournament with a 5-1 road win over The College of New Jersey tonight at Trenton Thunder Park. The Roadrunners won their third straight and improved to 23-12 overall and 10-5 in the NJAC while the Lions now stand at 18-15 overall and 6-9 in the conference.
Ramapo scored all five of their runs before the Lions got on the board in the bottom of the ninth. In the top of the fourth,
Zach Novakowski led off with a double and later scored on
Jesse Swartout's RBI sac fly for the 1-0 lead. In the seventh,
Jack Tallent and
Zack Bailey hit back-to-back singles before
John Higgins laced a ball back up the middle to plate the second run, 2-0. Following a ground out which moved the two base runners up to second and third with one out, Novakowski drove in two insurance runs with a hard hit single through the right side of the infield, 4-0.
Matt Lalomia led off the ninth with a single and stole second before
Robert Klawans drew a walk. Both runners moved up on a stolen base while Lalomia was able to cross home plate on a throwing error by the Lions, 5-0. The Lions scored their run in the bottom half of the inning with two outs when Mike LaGravenis knocked in Jack Haynes with an RBI double.
Dominick Ciani (3-2) fired a two hitter on the mound in seven complete innings of work. He struck out five, walked two and did not give up a run.
Billy Scanlon worked the final two innings for Ramapo with four strikeout, three walks as he let up one hit and one run. Baley led the team at the plate finishing 3-4 with one run scored while Higgins and Novakowski each finished 2-5 with one run scored.
Ramapo and TCNJ return to action tomorrow afternoon in Mahwah at Jeff Maund Field to complete the NJAC home-and-home series. The game is set to begin at 3:30 PM.
