GLASSBORO, NJ – The #11/15 Rowan University baseball team split its New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) doubleheader with #8 Kean University on Saturday afternoon. The Profs won game one, 8-5 and the Cougars took the second, 5-4.

Rowan has an overall record of 28-8 and Kean has a mark of 28-10. In the conference, the Profs finish 13-5 and the Cougars are 12-6. Rowan will be the second seed in the NJAC Championship Tournament and host the fifth seed The College of New Jersey (19-16) in the first round on Tuesday, April 29 at 3:30 p.m.

Right-handed pitcher Dylan Johannink (jr. Medford Lakes, NJ/Shawnee) earned the victory in the first contest. He (5-0) threw eight innings and allowed four runs on 11 hits and struck out five. Righty Charles Thielman (jr. Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) took the loss. He (4-2) pitched a complete game and gave up eight runs on 12 hits.

Third baseman Kevin McMenamin (jr. Maple Shade, NJ/Maple Shade) went two for four with a triple, one run scored and two RBIs. Designated hitter Casey Grimes (jr. Gibbstown, NJ/Paulsboro) registered two hits in four at bats, scored twice and knocked in a run. Center fielder Eric Perez (sr. Fords, NJ/Woodbridge) produced two hits, one run and one RBI. First baseman Rich Powelson (jr. Shamong, NJ/Seneca) accumulated two hits, scored one run and had a RBI. Second baseman Mark Benak (sr. South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) tallied two runs.

For Kean, designated hitter Salvatore Taormina (so. Brooklyn, NY/Xaverian) had three hits (five at bats), a double, a run scored and one RBI. First baseman Nick Zucchero (sr. Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) went two for four with two RBIs. Center fielder Matt Meleo (so. Jackson, NJ/Jackson Mem.) and right fielder Ryan Kelley (so. Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) each recorded two hits. Meleo had a double and scored a run and Kelley drove in one run.

Grimes put Rowan on the board in the first inning with a RBI single. Kean tied the game in the second when Kelley hit a run scoring double. The Profs plated three runs in the bottom of the second. Left fielder Nick Kreiger (jr. Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan) tallied a RBI single, Powelson crossed the plate on a wild pitch and shortstop Ryan Williams (jr. Southampton, NJ/Seneca) drove in a run with a base hit. Powelson made the score 5-1 with a single that scored Grimes in the third. Zucchero cut the deficit to 5-2 with a RBI double in the fourth.

Rowan tacked on three more runs in the seventh for an 8-2 lead. McMemamin tripled and drove in two runs and Perez recorded a sacrifice fly. The Cougars scored twice in the eighth when Taormina and Zucchero each notched RBI singles. In the ninth, shortstop Ryan Reitmeyer (so. Lacey Twp., NJ/Lacey Twp.) scored on a wild pitch.

Right-hander Matt Mantione (jr. Morris Plains, NJ/Whippany Park) pitched a complete game to earn the win in game two. He (5-2) allowed four runs on eight hits and struck out three batters. Righty Ryan Easterday (jr. Westmont, NJ/Haddon Twp.) suffered the loss. In seven innings, he (3-1) gave up five runs, four earned, 11 hits and had five strikeouts.

Second baseman Tyler Smarslok (sr. Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty) had three hits (five at bats) and scored one run. Reitmeyer (so. Lacey Twp., NJ/Lacey Twp.) went three for four and scored twice. Taormina had three hits, one double and drove in a run.

Williams recorded three hits (four at bats), one double and two RBIs. Powelson went two for three and had one double and a RBI. McMenamin knocked in a run, while right fielder Ryan Pavlik (jr. Blackwood, NJ/Highland Reg.), Benak, Grimes and Kreiger each scored one run.

Zucchero hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning to give Kean a 1-0 lead. The Cougars added two runs in the third when Meleo produced a RBI single and left fielder Joe O'Connor (sr. Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) recorded a sacrifice fly. Rowan cut the advantage to 3-2 in the bottom half on a two-run double by Williams. Kean extended its lead to 4-2 in the fifth on a run scoring single by Taormina. Catcher Michael Kendall (so. Columbus, NJ/Northern Burlington) crossed the plate on a wild pitch in the sixth for a 5-2 advantage. The Profs trimmed the deficit to 5-4, scoring two runs in the eighth. McMenamin notched a RBI single and Powelson registered a sacrifice fly.