Newark, NJ…Rowan University handed The College of New Jersey a 5-2 loss in the 2008 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament on Sunday afternoon. Rowan will now take on Kean University in the championship of the 2008 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship at Eagles and Bears Riverfront Stadium. TCNJ, which earned the third seed in the regional, finishes their season with a 30-12 record, while Rowan University improves to 33-14.
Adam Tussey was 3-4 for the Lions with a pair of stolen bases.
Junior Tom Ready (Blenheim, NJ/Triton Regional) drove in two runs for the Profs, while senior Ryan Kulik (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) struck out 11 en route to his 10th win of the year and has provided the Profs a shot at the 2008 NCAA Division III Regional Championship title when they take on Kean University in the championship game.
Rowan\’s short stop Roland Rodriguez (Miami, FL/Miami Killian) reached in the first and scored to spot the Profs to a 1-0 lead. Junior outfielder John McMullin (Woodbury, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) connected on his team-leading eighth home run of the year in the second inning to left center field as Rowan took a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Frank Urbanovich (Rutherford, NJ/St. Peter\’s Prep) drove in senior Joe Franceschini (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East), who had reached with a single.
TCNJ\’s junior second baseman Adam Tussey (Brooklawn, NJ/Gloucester City) was 3-4 and collected his team-leading 72nd hit of the year having added 67 singles on the season. After reaching with his third single of the game in the top of the sixth, he broke up Kulik\’s shutout bid on an RBI single by senior catcher Rich Gawlak (Plainsboro, NJ/West Windsor-Plainsboro South). Gawlak led the Lions this year having driven in 49 runs as a starter in all of TCNJ\’s 42 games in 2008.
In the bottom of the sixth, junior Tom Ready (Blenheim, NJ/Triton Regional) came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded, delivering a two RBI single to center to give the Profs a 5-1 lead and knocking TCNJ\’s starting pitcher, left handed senior Nick Amabile (Holmdel, NJ/Holmdel) from the game.
Junior fireman, Eric Gertie (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) came in the game and got the Lions out of the jam, down 5-1 through six innings. The appearance was the 19th of the season for Gertie, worked 2.1 innings with no hits and a strike out. Amabile, drops to 3-1 after working in 5.2 innings with five earned runs off nine hits with one strikeout with six walks.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Lions had a scoring opportunity that was snuffed out as they had two runners on base before junior Vince Mazzaccaro (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) struck out and senior Dave Mebs (Cinnaminson, NJ/Cinnaminson) was thrown out trying to steal third to end the inning.
In the top of the ninth, Gawlak lead off with a single to centerfield to open the Lions\’ action, followed by a single to center by senior first baseman Bill Kropp (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts). With no outs and runners on first and second, Rowan replaced starting pitcher, 2008 NJAC Pitcher of the Year, senior Ryan Kulik (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) with junior reliever Kevin O\’Hara (Clayton, NJ/Gloucester Catholic).
Sophomore Chris Esperon (Union, NJ/Union Catholic) stepped to the plate to face O\’Hara and flew out to left field for the first out. Senior Tyler Hall (Stockton, NJ/Immaculata) pinch hit and grounded out to second. Senior right fielder Matt Barrett (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley Regional) singled to right field to drive in Gawlak and pull the Lions closer. Mebs struck out looking to end the game.
Kulik collected the win to improve to 10-2, while O\’Hara earned his eighth save after an inning of work, while making his 22nd appearance of the season.
For the Lions, Gawlak was 2-4 with a an RBI and a run scored, while Esperon was 2-4 as the Lions collected 10 hits, but left eight runners on base. Defensively, the Lions turned two double plays. Tussey added a pair of stolen bases, while Mebs was 1-2 on the base paths.
The 2008 NCAA appearance was the 18th in program history for the Lions who now boast a lifetime record of 41-35 in NCAA tournament history. The 2008 Lions were under the direction of interim head coach Dean Glus, who helped the team to an impressive 30-12 record as well as a No. 3 seed in the 2008 NJAC and 2008 NCAA Regional playoffs.
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