TOTH LEADS LIONS HONORED BY NJAC; FIVE OTHER LIONS CITED ON 2008 NJAC ALL-STAR BASEBALL TEAM

Media Release May 1, 2008

Pitman, NJ – The College of New Jersey had one player named to the 2008 New Jersey Athletic Conference All-Star First Team, while five others earned second team and honorable mention honors.  TCNJ’s junior shortstop Jeff Toth (Parlin, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) headlined the 2008 Lions honored, while junior Adam Tussey (Brooklawn, NJ/Gloucester) was named to the second team and senior pitchers Mike Oliver (Crosswicks, NJ/Hamilton West) and Bob Buskett (Trenton, NJ/Notre Dame) as well as senior first baseman Bill Kropp (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts), and junior third baseman Vince Mazzaccaro (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) were all tapped for the honorable mention squad.

Toth, a 2007 Division III All-America Third Team honoree, earned a spot on the NJAC All-Star First Team this season after earning second team honors a year ago. On the 2008 season, Toth is batting .382 with 37 RBIs, nine doubles, three triples, six home runs and is 14-17 on stolen bases. Toth, who has a .625 slugging percentage this year, has also scored 40 runs, while connecting on 52 hits with 27 walks.  A 35-game starter in 2008, Toth has started 80 games for the Lions and now has added 81 RBIs, 120 hits, 14 home runs, 10 triples, 15 doubles and scored 91 runs in his two seasons with the Lions.

Tussey, a transfer from nearby Rider University, has started all 36 games for the Lions this spring at second base and leads the Lions with his .392 average and 62 hits. Of those 62 hits, 57 are singles and has driven in 28 runs. He also leads the team with 158 at bats and has drawn 24 walks and struck out just six times, ranking 20th nationally as the toughest to strikeout.

Oliver boasts a 5-1 record with a 2.34 ERA in eight starts and has two complete games on the season. He has worked in 57.2 innings this spring and fanned 56 batters, both tops this season for the Lion pitching staff. On his career, Oliver has a 18-3 record while amassing 160 strikeouts in 182.1 innings of work. He had an unbeaten streak that grew to 10 games and spanned two seasons, before suffering a 3-0 loss last weekend at Kean.  Oliver is currently a candidate for the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team.

Buskett has a 5-2 record this year for the Lions with a 3.74 ERA in eight appearances this year. He has racked up 55.1 innings this season while fanning 30 and has held the opposition to a .238 average with just 18 walks. On his career, he has worked in 196 innings with a 20-4 record with 121 strikeouts.

Kropp, who is also a candidate for the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, has started 31 games for the Lions and has excelled at first base. He boasts a .346 average at the plate with eight extra-base hits and 23 RBIs. He has committed only two errors in 281 total chances this year for a .993 fielding percentage and has helped the Lions turn 27 double plays. Overall on his career, he has played in 122 games at TCNJ while collecting 123 hits and 73 RBIs.

Mazzaccaro, who earned a starting role late last season and has started every game this year at third base, has a .359 average on the 2008 campaign. He is second on the squad with 40 RBIs and has 52 hits with 15 extra-base hits including eight doubles and five home runs. 

TCNJ finished the 2008 regular-season with a 28-8 overall record, while earning the No. 3 seed in the 2008 NJAC tournament after a 12-6 record in the league. TCNJ, which has captured the last three NJAC Championship titles, will open their 2008 championship run on Thursday, May 1 hosting fourth seeded Rowan University at George Ackerman Park at 3:30 p.m.

The NJAC tournament will then shift to Newark, New Jersey and will wrap on May 3-5 at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium with the league’s tournament champion earning the conference’s automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships. The 2008 NJAC championship baseball marks the fiftieth year the league has had a baseball champion and in those 49 previous year no program has won four championships in a row.