Zach Coluccio built upon his dominance on the mound this season during No. 18 Rowan’s baseball’s interconference matchup versus TCNJ on April 18, as the senior went seven hitless innings en route to a 7-2 victory over the Lions. The win gives Rowan their 20th of the season (20-8) and makes them 5-4 in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play.

Coluccio had a 1.00 ERA prior to the two NJAC teams meeting. Following his outing against the Lions, he holds the best ERA in the NJAC at 0.84. The win also marked his fifth win of the season, continuing his undefeated streak on the mound (5-0). 

“I can’t say enough good things about him,” head coach Mike Dickson said. “He really commanded his fastball and his sweeper and slider were both on point. It all starts with that.”

The Profs would make things difficult for Lions ace Dan Merkel from the start, loading the bases in the first two innings. But, the pressure from the offense would only amount to one run. Damon Suriani would get hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first, scoring Tyler Cannon from third and getting Profs out to an early 1-0 lead. 

 “We just had to get some hits with runners in scoring position. We had the bases loaded and they [TCNJ] only got out of it with only giving up one run,” Dickson said. “So my message to the team is not to press and we’re gonna get another opportunity, we just have to take advantage of it.”

Rowan wouldn’t score again until the fifth inning, but would score sixth of their seven runs over the next three-inning frame. A single by Joey Bogart scoring two runners in the fifth to put them up 3-0. Dave Appolonia would tack on an RBI single of his own in the sixth and an RBI double from Marco Mannino in the seventh would total the Profs seven runs. 

“Just playing our best brand in baseball was kind of our goal today and I think we did that,” Mannino said.

Despite going hitless until the eighth inning, TCNJ would score their first run in the bottom of the sixth to make things 5-1. Lions two hole hitter Jack O’Donnell drew a leadoff walk, stole second, and went to third after a throwing error by Karson Harcourt. Gianni Marano worked another walk to put runners on the corners with no outs. Coluccio would get Zach Hochheiser to ground into a double play, scoring O’Donnell from third and ending a potential rally for the Lions.

“He induced a big double play for us when we needed it,” Dickson said. “He was just outstanding.”

Continuing with their streak of interconference play, the Profs will play the Lions one more time before a doubleheader versus William Paterson on April 19. Building off their NJAC record that finally has Rowan in the win column, Mannino says his team is ready to prove their dominance.

“We have a lot of trust in the guys on our team and we know that they’re a good spot too,” Mannino said. “So knowing that we can really hang with anybody in our conference is a good feeling.”

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