Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (22-16) fell behind late and dropped a 7-5 decision to The College of New Jersey (22-15) on Tuesday afternoon in a first round NJAC Tournament game. Tony Gatti (Howell/Howell) led the 11-hit attack with three safeties on the day. Stockton came into the Tournament as the number one seed while the Lions are seeded number six.
 
The Ospreys jumped out quickly, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. An RBI by Max Kaplan (Wall/Wall) and a two-RBI single by Cooper Fiore (Pottstown, PA/Pottsgrove) put the home team ahead 3-0 after one.
 
Ryan Goodall smacked a two-run homer to slice the margin to 3-2 after three frames, but Stockton answered in their half of the fourth. An RBI single by Gatti pushed the lead back to 4-2 in favor of Stockton.
 
The teams equaled each other as the Lions plated two markers to tie it at 4-4 after five innings, then the teams each scored single runs in the seventh inning, setting up a tense final frame. The visitors were able to score a pair of unearned runs in the top of the ninth giving the Lions a 7-5 lead. Stockton was unable to respond, suffering the two-run loss.
 
Kaplan, Fiore, Nick Avagnano (Paramus/Paramus) and Russell Halvorsen (Howell/Howell) all had two hits with Avagnano scoring twice.
 
Goodall, Michael Schumacher, and Andrew Woodward all had two hits for the Lions with Goodall scoring three times, with two RBI as did Schumacher.
 
Stockton will try and get back on the winning track in the double-elimination Tournament when the Ospreys will play against Kean University on Friday afternoon. The game will be played at Rutgers-Camden and start at 12 pm.