CAMDEN, NJ -  Facing elimination, #21 Rowan won a pair of games in the rain, defeating Kean, 10-5, and TCNJ,  8-3, to advance to the championship round of the 2024 NJAC Baseball Championship at the Rutgers-Camden Athletic Complex.
 
The fifth-seeded Profs will face third-seeded Ramapo on Sunday at noon needing two wins to claim the conference title. Rowan (27-12) is seeking its first conference championship since 2021 and 18th all-time.
 
Rowan 10- Kean 5
Jason Morgan had three hits and three RBI and Anthony Schooley also had three hits, and drove in two, to eliminate second-seeded Kean in the early game.
 
Rowan scored twice in the bottom of the fourth as Cannon led off with a walk and after stealing second, and advancing to third on an error, crossed the plate on an RBI single by Defeciani. After a double by Dylan Maria, Defeciani scored on a sacrifice fly by Morgan.
 
The Profs added two runs in the fifth to go up 4-0 as Maria scored on a bases-loaded balk and Morgan's single brought home Phil Sedalis.
 
Kean (27-15) got within, 4-3, in the sixth thanks to a three-run homer from Phil Marcantonio, but the Profs exploded for five runs in the seventh, starting with consecutive singles from Sedalis, Defeciani and Maria. Schooley connected on a two-run double and Marco Mannino also drove in two with a single to put the Profs up, 9-3. Kean got two more runs in the eighth, before Morgan drove in Sedalis with a single to give Rowan its final run of the game.
 
Starter Thomas Sullivan (4-1) went six innings and picked up the victory with relievers Charlie Russell, Brayden Davis and Jaxon Casdia able to close out the win.
 
Mannino drove in two runs on two hits with Sedalis, Maria and Defeciani also recording two base-hits each.
 
Rowan 8- TCNJ 3
The Profs struck in the top of the first when Sedalis reached base on a fielder's choice and eventually scored when Morgan reached on an error. TCNJ came back to score two runs and take a 2-1 lead.
 
Rowan totaled six runs from the third through the sixth innings, with Maria connecting on a two-run double in the third and Schooley scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth. The Profs got three in the fifth on a fielder's choice by Morgan, a sacrifice by Karson Harcourt and a single from Schooley to increase the lead to 7-3.
 
TCNJ got one back in the sixth but Rowan added another in the seventh when Schooley's single brought home Morgan.

Matt Choi threw 5.0 innings and struck out five to earn the win. Mark Grubb entered in the sixth with two men on and retired the side with a pair of shutouts while Jayson Dougherty, Maria and Sean Colbert secured the victory in the final innings.
 
Schooley had three hits, including a double, and two RBI, with Cannon and Maria adding two hits apiece.