Box Score (Game #1) 
Box Score (Game #2) 

WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (22-15, 12-6 NJAC) locked up a top-three seed for the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Baseball Tournament, and with it a first-round home game on April 28, as the Pioneers celebrated Senior Day and finished regular-season play with a 12-11 and 20-7 sweep of Richard Stockton (15-17, 4-14 NJAC) April 25.

The Pioneers will be the tournament's third seed and will host fourth-seeded The College of New Jersey in a first-round game Tuesday, April 28, at 3:30 p.m. Second-round games will be conducted at campus sites on Thursday, April 30, and the highest remaining seed will host the remainder of the tournament Saturday-Sunday, May 2-3.

GAME ONE
Back-to-back home runs by junior Mike Guadango (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) and senior John Elia (Emerson, N.J./Pascack Valley) during the bottom of the seventh propelled William Paterson to an opening 12-11 victory.

Richard Stockton got on the board first, as freshman Chris Wedding singled through the left side of the infield to deliver classmate Mike Wasco from second base, making it a 1-0 game in the top of the second.

William Paterson fought back to plate two runs and secure the lead in the third. After a leadoff fly-out, freshman Anthony Dorio (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) singled up the middle, stole second and alertly ran to third when Stockton catcher Shaune Collins was forced to throw down to first after being unable to cleaning catch Miguel Lugo's (Jersey City, N.J./St. Mary's) swinging strikeout. Senior Will Courter (Roseland, N.J./West Essex) singled to left field to drive in Dorio, and after he stole second, Courter crossed the plate thanks to a Guadango base hit to center field, giving WP a 2-1 advantage.

The Pioneers tacked on a fourth-inning run when senior Don Hays (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) scored from second on a two-out Osprey error. However, Richard Stockton tied the game at 3-3 during the top of the fifth when freshman Marc Asta cracked his fifth home run of the year over the fence in left-center field.

The Ospreys pushed across a run to grab a 4-3 seventh-inning lead when two singles and an error loaded the bases for freshman Dan McGuckin, who drew a walk from WP starter Steve Coral (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley) and forced across Scott Fisher. Freshman reliever J.D. Melendez (Aberdeen, N.J./Matawan Regional) entered with the bases loaded and two outs, and he got out of the jam by inducing a grounder that Courter fielded and stepped on third base to get the final out.

Junior Marc Palestina (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) started the bottom of the seventh by reaching first due to a Stockton error, but the Ospreys looked like they would work out of the inning after retiring the next two batters. Courter drew a base on balls to bring Guadango to the plate, and the junior crushed a ball to left-center, his fourth round-tripper of the year, to snatch the lead back for the Pioneers at 6-4. Elia then hit Fisher's very next pitch over the right-field wall, his ninth home run of the season, to chase the Stockton ace from the game. Sophomore Frank Franco (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) later drove in two runners with his single to center, and William Paterson owned a 9-4 advantage after seven innings.

Richard Stockton scored a pair of two-out runs with a Fisher RBI-double and a Nick DiGirolamo run-scoring single, for a 9-6 score in the middle of the eighth. But the Pioneers scored three runs of their own during the home half of the frame, one thanks to a Guadango double down the right-field line and two more on Elia's second homer of the day.

Those extra WP runs would prove to be valuable, as Richard Stockton mounted a ninth-inning rally. Junior Jay Merulla led off with a double, followed by a McGuckin run-scoring single. Freshman Brian Calabria contributed a pinch-hit single and Rob Guiliano came on as a pinch hitter and was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with zero outs. Freshman J.J. Moran (River Vale, N.J./Pascack Valley) was able to induce a foul-out, but Asta's fly ball to right field plated McGuckin and Fisher's home run cleared the bases and pulled the Ospreys within one at 12-11. DiGirolamo then drilled a triple to center field to put the tying run 90 feet away, but Palestina made a good play to snag a Wasco grounder to his right and tossed in time to Moran at first base, recording the game's final out.

Elia belted two home runs and was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Guadango went 3-for-5 and collected a double, homer, five RBI and two runs. Courter and Hays each added a pair of hits for the Pioneers. Coral allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits in 6.1 innings, striking out five and walking four. Melendez earned his first victory with 1.1 innings of relief (1-0), surrendering two hits and two runs. Moran pitched the ninth for William Paterson and gave up five hits and five runs.

Fisher was 5-for-6 at the plate, belting out three doubles and a home run while collecting four RBI and three runs scored, but he took the loss on the mound (3-3) after allowing seven runs (two earned) in 6.2 innings of work.

GAME TWO
The two sides combined for 35 hits, including six home runs off the bats of the Pioneers, as William Paterson finished off the day with a 20-7 victory.

Fisher helped give his team a 2-0 first-inning advantage with his second home run of the day, this one to left field. That lead would be short lived, however, as the Pioneers took advantage of the gusty wind to hit three round-trippers of their own during the bottom half of the frame, using homers by Guadango, Franco (grand slam) and Rob Somers (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) to help push across nine Pioneer runners and take the early control of the game.

Lugo's triple plated Franco and Somers, and Courter's double allowed Lugo to trot home, to make it a 12-3 game after four innings. For Stockton in the fifth, Asta singled in Matt Allen and Fisher hit a tape-measure bomb to right-center field, added two more to Stockton's tally at 12-5.

The Ospreys' Allen drove in two runs with a sixth-inning single through the left side, but William Paterson answered with five more scores, including back-to-back solo home runs by Guadango and Elia, for a 17-7 WP advantage. Dorio then crossed the plate after a wild pitch, Lugo scampered home thanks to a Guadango sac fly, and senior Derek Koppinger (Columbia, N.J./North Warren Regional) had a pinch-hit homer to right, for a 20-7 score after seven innings.

Guadango led the Pioneers with his 4-for-5 effort, posting a double, two home runs, five RBI and two runs scored. Courter, Lugo and Franco all had three hits for William Paterson. Senior Dan VandeVrede (Lincoln Park, N.J./Pequannock Twp.) improved to 4-3 after pitching 8.0 innings and giving up seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits, walking one and striking out eight Ospreys. Sophomore Ryan Steidl (Randolph, N.J./Morris Knolls) surrendered two ninth-inning hits.

Fisher was 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and collected four RBI for Stockton at the plate. Senior Sean Donovan took the loss for Stockton (1-2) allowing seven first-inning runs.

Prior to the doubleheader, William Paterson honored its six seniors – Skyler Conte (Kinnelon, N.J./Kinnelon), Courter, Elia, Hays, Koppinger and VandeVrede.