The Kean baseball team (pictured) and softball team both won NJAC championships, the third time this has been accomplished in confernece history. Kean sprts information

Union, N.J. – Kean won their second straight NJAC Championship as they defeated Rowan, 8-1, Sunday afternoon at Jim Hynes Stadium. With the win, the Cougars (35-7) receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament which is slated to begin on Wednesday, May 18th.

The tournament championship is the fourth overall for the Cougars and third in the past four seasons.

In the championship game, the Cougars built a 3-0 lead thanks to a two-out RBI double by catcher Eddie Jennings in the top of the second and a two run blast to right-centerfield by senior Ken Gregory in the top of the third.

The Profs (30-11-1) tacked on a single run in the bottom of the fifth as they loaded the bases on a leadoff walk and back-to-back singles. Starter Joe Bartlinski then got shortstop Marc Magliaro to ground into a double play getting two outs for the Cougars while also pushing across a single run for Rowan putting the score at 3-1.

The Cougars scored a single run in the top of the seventh as junior Vinny Galya recorded a two-out RBI single scoring Stephen Nappe who reached on a single of his own.

Kean then broke the game open with four runs in the eighth frame. Junior Lee Cavico started off the inning with a double and Gregory followed with his second homerun of the afternoon, a two run shot to highlight the inning.

Bartlinski earned the complete game win for the Cougars. Bartlinski (4-3) allowed just three hits and one run while fanning 10 and walking seven.  Senior Kyle Norman suffered the loss for Rowan. Norman (3-2) allowed three runs and four hits in five and a third innings of work.

Offensively Gregory was 3-for-5 with four RBI and three runs scored while Galya was 2-for-5 in the win for Kean.