BOX SCORE (Game #1) 
BOX SCORE (Game #2)

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

WAYNE, N.J. –The No. 23 William Paterson baseball team (22-8, 6-4 NJAC) held on for a thrilling 4-3 win, but dropped the night cap 11-6 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference twin bill against The College of New Jersey (18-13, 6-4 NJAC) on April 14 at Jeff Albies Field. 

GAME ONE
A leadoff double by senior catcher Mike Galeotafiore sparked the Lions offense in the top of the fourth.  Galeotafiore moved to third on a Michael Kelly fly ball, and came around to score on a Jacob DeWitt single through the middle to go ahead 1-0.

Senior shortstop Anthony Dorio's (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) single through the left side led off the Pioneer fifth.  Dorio advanced to second on a wild pitch and was able to race home on a Vin Fondacaro (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock) double to right-center to knot the score at 1-1.

The Lions responded as Galeotafiore doubled in Jim Ruzich, who had led off the sixth inning with a walk to give TCNJ a 2-1 advantage.  The Pioneers answered in the bottom of the frame as sophomore second baseman Scott Ptaszynski (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills) laced his second double of the day to left-center.  Ptaszynski advanced to third on a wild pitch, and a RBI ground-out to second base by senior outfielder Rob Somers (West Long Branch, N.J./Shore Regional) plated the run to make it even at 2-2.

Fondacaro's one-out single ignited the Pioneer bats, followed by a walk issued to junior James Lauer (Hamilton, N.J./Pennington Prep).  Junior outfielder Ryan Gibbons (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) delivered a single that painted the right-field line to allow Fondacaro to score from second, putting the Pioneers in front 3-2. 

TCNJ used a single and back-to-back walks to load the bases in the top of the eighth inning.  William Paterson brought in freshman reliever Tom Gaccione (Little Falls, N.J./Passaic Valley Regional), who managed to get out of the inning allowing only one run on a DeWitt ground ball to the right side, scoring Ruzich to tie the score at 3-3.  The Pioneers answered in the bottom of the frame, starting with a one-out single to center field by senior first baseman Jack Montanile (Weehawken, N.J./Hudson Catholic).  Dorio singled down the left field line to move Montanile up a base, and it was sophomore A.J. Flores (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) who delivered a two-out bloop single that dropped on the right-field line to allow the go-ahead run to score.

Sophomore Josh Jensen (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) threw seven innings, surrendering three earned runs and striking out four.  Gaccione got the win for the Pioneers, allowing no runs to score in 2.0 innings of work. 

Benito Gonzalez suffered the loss for the Lions, allowing one earned run on three hits.  Robert Graber was the starter for TCNJ allowing three earned runs in seven innings pitched, striking out three.  DeWitt was 1-for-4 with two RBI, and Galeotafiore was 3-for-3 with three doubles.

Fondacaro went 2-for-3 with a RBI double, and Ptaszynski was 2-for-4 with a run scored for WP.

GAME TWO
The Pioneers jumped out early as Somers laced a one-out double to straight-away center field and came around to score on a Fondacaro single up the middle to lead 1-0 in the bottom of the first.

The College of New Jersey countered the Pioneer offense by putting up three runs on four hits in the top of the third.  After taking back-to-back strike outs, the Lions' Jon Gabriel singled through the left side to spark a two-out rally.  Gabriel moved up a base on a wild pitch, and was able to score on a Ruzich single down the right-field line.  Ruzich was plated on a Galeotafiore double to right-center.  Junior Michael Murphy singled-in Galeotafiore to give the Lions a 3-1 lead.

WP responded in the bottom of the third frame with a leadoff single by Flores.  Flores made his way around the base paths by way of a ground out and a fly out, and scored on an Adam Derner (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional) double that hit the bottom of the fence in left-center to cut the lead, 3-2.

TCNJ tacked on another run in the top of the fourth as Scott Kelly's sacrifice fly plated Ed Zakrzewski, who had walked to lead off the inning.  A seven-run fifth inning for the Lions broke the game open, highlighted by a Gabriel two-run single, and a Galeotafiore two-RBI double to center for an 11-2 advantage.

The Lions issued a two-out walk to Derner in the bottom of the fifth frame which proved costly.  A hard-hit ground ball by Montanile bounced off the TCNJ pitcher, and allowed him to reach base safely.  Somers singled through the right side to score Derner to make the score 11-3.  Derner doubled down the right-field line to lead off the Pioneer seventh inning, and was quickly followed by a Montanile walk.  A two-out double by Fondacaro plated two runs, and Lauer's double to left-center allowed Fondacaro to score to cut the deficit to 11-6.  

Junior Matt Goitz (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) took the loss for WP pitching 3.0 innings,  allowing four earned runs on six hits, striking out three.  Junior Glenn Flora (Lyndhurst, N.J./Lyndhurst) surrendered five runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings of work.  Junior reliever J.J. Moran (River Vale, N.J./Pascack Valley) closed the last 4.1 innings for the Pioneers, allowing no earned runs, striking out four.

Senior Eric Lewis picked up the win for TCNJ, allowing three earned runs on six hits in 5.0 innings.  Dominic Capuano allowed three earned runs on five hits in his 1.2 innings of work, and Gonzalez and Michael Ham finished the game for the Lions, not allowing a hit between them.  Galeotafiore went 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, while Gabriel was a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored.  Murphy finished 3-for-5 with a RBI and a run scored.

Fondacaro was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored for WP, and Derner went 2-for-3 with a RBI and two runs scored.

William Paterson will host Centenary College for a non-conference match-up on Tuesday, April 17 at 3:30 p.m.