Box Score 

PHOENIX, ARIZ. – Despite a fifth-inning rally to get within one run, William Paterson (3-2) lost a 25-11 decision to No. 23 Wheaton (9-1) at the Greater Phoenix Invitational March 15.

The Lyons struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the third inning, but a Will Courter (Roseland, N.J./West Essex) triple scored Andrue Laguerre (Jersey City, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) during the bottom of the inning, making it a 2-1 game. Wheaton surged ahead with a single run in the fourth and three more in the fifth to build a 6-1 advantage.

The Pioneers loaded the bases with two outs during the home half of the fifth, and a John Elia (Emerson, N.J./Pascack Valley) hit by pitch, a Rob Somers (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) two-run single to right field and a J.D. Melendez (Aberdeen, N.J./Matawan Regional) RBI-single got William Paterson back into the game, cutting the Lyons' edge to one at 6-5.

Wheaton took control of the game with a seven-run seventh inning, a frame highlighted by a grand slam by Tad Skelley, for a 13-5 edge. Junior all-American Mike Guadango (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) singled in a run in the seventh, and following six runs by the Lyons in the eighth, William Paterson crossed the plate four times during the bottom of the inning, two of them driven in by a Marc Palestina (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) single up the middle. Sophomore Mike Moran's (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock Twp.) ninth-inning RBI-single finished the Pioneers' scoring.

Courter was 4-for-4 with a double, triple, RBI and three runs scored. Melendez went 3-for-4, while Guadango, Zak Rose (Nutley, N.J./St. Mary Rutherford) and Jack Montanile (Weehawken, N.J./Hudson Catholic) each had a pair of hits.

Junior Scott Zirul (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) started and suffered the loss (1-1), allowing eight hits and three earned runs in 4.0 innings.

The Pioneers will play a doubleheader against Roger Williams Monday, March 16, at 11:00 a.m. PT at the Greater Phoenix Invitational.