Camden, NJ – Senior catcher Gerard Haran belted a grand slam with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as third-seeded The College of New Jersey captured the NJAC Championship in dramatic fashion with an 11-9 win over No. 2 seed Montclair State at Campbell's Field on Sunday evening.

Haran's heroics gave the Lions (36-6) their second straight conference title and sixth overall as TCNJ also claimed the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship which begins on May 18.

Junior ROB BOWNESS homered and drove in three runs for the Red Hawks (25-15-2), who were seeking their first NJAC title since 2001.

The Red Hawks scored three times in the eighth inning to take a 9-7 lead and needed just three outs to complete its tournament run. However, that would not happen as TCNJ loaded the bases on two singles and an error bringing Haran to the plate. The senior, who homered the day before in the Lions' 5-4 loss to MSU, crushed a ball over the left field wall sending the Lions' dugout into a jubilant celebration.

Trailing 7-6 in the eighth, MSU mounted its rally with one out. DANNY RODRIGUEZ and BRIAN BUTLER each singled with one out with Rodriguez scoring on a Bowness sac fly tying the game at 7-7. The Lions then committed consecutive errors, the latter allowing ROBERT CLARK ad Butler to score putting the Red Hawks in front.

Righthander Blake Ortiz (2-2) picked up the victory as he tossed the final two innings. MARTY CABALAR (2-1) suffered the loss.

Bowness gave Montclair a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-run homer and RBIs from MICHAEL NUNES and Butler in the second extended the advantage to 4-0. TCNJ scored twice in the third to cut the deficit in half before a Butler RBI double in the fourth made the score 5-2.

The Lions scored the next five runs, including four in the fifth inning to go on top 7-5. Montclair crept back to 7-6 in the sixth as KEVIN CUOZZI scored from third on a balk.