Box Score 

WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson baseball team is familiar with wild shootouts at home, but the third-seeded Pioneers (22-16) were unable to secure a victory in the first round of the NJAC Tournament, losing 23-13 to fourth-seeded The College of New Jersey (21-16-1) in the first round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament April 28 at Pioneer Baseball Park.

William Paterson will travel to face top-seeded Kean in a second-round contest of the double-elimination NJAC Tournament Thursday, April 30, at 3:30 p.m. TCNJ will travel to play No. 2 seed Montclair State April 30, also at 3:30 p.m.

Junior Miguel Lugo (Jersey City, N.J. /St. Mary's) finished 4-of-5 with three runs scored and two RBI, teammate Frank Franco (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) was 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI, and designated hitter Rob Somers (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) had two hits and a team-high three RBI.

Junior Scott Zirul (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) fell to 5-3, tossing 2.3 innings and allowing 11 runs (nine earned) on 10 hits as took the mound in the NJAC Tournament's opening game for the second consecutive year.

With one out in the first inning, James Ruzich roped a double down the left-field line, scored when junior Chris Esperon doubled to center, and the Lions finished the frame with a Vince Mazzaccaro RBI-single.

William Paterson wasted little time flexing its offensive muscles at the plate, as John Elia (Emerson, N.J./Pascack Valley) crushed a 2-1 pitch with one out, depositing his 12th home run of the year deep to left-center to hand the Pioneers a 3-2 lead after one inning.

That advantage, however, was the last for the Pioneers, as TCNJ exploded for six runs on five hits in the second to move ahead, 8-3. Ruzich smashed a three-run home run to straightway center, Esperon hit his second run-scoring double, and the Lions' Ryan Anzelone followed with a two-run blast.

The NJAC's top-scoring offense refused to buckle, as the Pioneers answered with two runs thanks to a towering solo shot by Franco and Mike Guadango's (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands) RBI-single up the middle.

TCNJ added four runs in the third, using five hits and two Pioneer errors to build a commanding 12-5 cushion.

In the bottom of the third inning, William Paterson chased TCNJ starter Dan Anderson out of the game and responded with five runs on five hits, including a Franco sacrifice fly and run-scoring singles by Somers and Lugo, for a 12-10 game. Jeff Toth's run-scoring single, and a Somers two-RBI base hit, made it a 13-12 game an inning later.

After four innings and 22 runs scored between them, the fifth featured the first scoreless inning for both TCNJ and William Paterson.

The scoring quickly resumed as the Lions added another run when Mazzaccaro drove home Ruzich with a sacrifice fly, pushing the Lions in front, 14-12 in the sixth.

The Lions broke open a close game with four runs on three hits in the seventh inning to open up an 18-12 lead. The Pioneers used three relievers in the inning -- Ryan Steidl (Randolph, N.J./Morris Knolls), freshman J.J. Moran (River Vale, N.J./Pascack Valley) and Dan Alcala (Totowa, N.J./Passaic Valley).

WP's Anthony Dorio (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) led off the Pioneers' seventh inning with a sharp ball that the leftfielder mishandled for an error. Lugo doubled up the middle to score Dorio from second, but the Lions opened up a 21-13 lead with a three-run eighth inning.

Ruzich finished with eye-popping statistics, finishing 5-of-6 with six runs scored and five RBI, adding a pair of doubles and a home run. Toth lived up to his billing as the league's regular-season batting champion with a 4-for-6 day, driving in four runs and scoring once himself.

Five other TCNJ batters collected three hits – Esperon (four runs), Anzelone (three RBI, two runs), Andrew Priece, freshman Mike Galeotafiore and Adam Tussey, who in the leadoff spot scored four runs.

TCNJ pitcher Greg Spatz picked up his first victory in relief, allowing three runs (all earned) on four hits in 3.2 innings pitched. Anderson started and allowed nine runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings pitched.