Box Score 

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. – In a battle for a momentary hold on third place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) baseball standings, Montclair State (19-13, 10-5 NJAC) moved a half-game ahead of William Paterson (20-15, 10-6 NJAC) with a 10-7 victory at Yogi Berra Stadium April 23.

Freshman left fielder Mickey McGraw went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBI, and punctuated his afternoon with an all-out over-the shoulder running catch on the warning track to end the game. Senior rightfielder Scott Evangelist was 4-for-5 with a RBI, while Matt Hartwick added a pinch-hit two-run single.

Junior second baseman Miguel Lugo (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's) went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs for the Pioneers. William Paterson, already assured of a berth in next week's NJAC Tournament, will finish off its league slate on Saturday, April 25, with a home doubleheader against Richard Stockton at 12:00 p.m.

The Red Hawks trailed 5-2 in the fourth inning before erupting for six runs. Jason Lopez began the rally with a one-out single, and Zach Brown doubled down the left-field line to put runners at second and third. Hartwick then came to the plate and ripped a ball back up the middle, scoring both runners as MSU cut the lead to 5-4. Jay Bionde then lofted the next pitch to left field. Sophomore Mike Moran (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock Twp.) lost his footing and the ball went over his head for a double, allowing Hartwick to score with the tying run and Bionde to advance to third on the throw home. McGraw then executed a suicide squeeze that nearly backfired as Bionde lost his footing running toward the plate, but the ball was pushed out far enough to allow Bionde to get up and touch home to give MSU the 6-5 lead. After a fly-out and walk to Ed Kloepping, Michael Boggi laced a two-run double to right-center and the Red Hawks went up 8-5.

William Paterson would get a run back in the fifth inning as Marc Palestina (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded, but reliever Michael Streaman got a line-out to end the threat. McGraw would get that run plus one more back for MSU in the bottom half of the inning as he lined a two-run homer just over the right-field fence for his first home run of the year.

The Pioneers scored once more in the eighth when Mike Guadango (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) collected a RBI-single. But, that would be as close as William Paterson would get as Schott Shan retired the side in order in the ninth for his second save of the year.

Streaman picked up the victory as he improved to 5-0. He went 2.3 innings in relief, allowing a run on three hits, striking out three and walking two. Junior Scott Zirul (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) took the loss and fell to 5-2. Zirul gave up eight runs and 11 hits in 3.2 innings, walking two.

After William Paterson squandered a leadoff triple from Lugo in the first, Montclair took a 2-0 lead in its first at-bat. Evangelist delivered a run-scoring double and Kloepping plated another with a groundout. But, the Pioneers struck right back with five runs in the second. Anthony Dorio (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) walked with the bases loaded, Lugo followed with a two-run single for a 3-2 WP lead, and two throwing errors allowed two more runs to score as the Pioneers held a 5-2 advantage.

Guadango and Bionde both finished with three hits in the game, while John Elia (Emerson, N.J./Pascack Valley) was 2-for-5 for the Pioneers.