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WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (10-4) rallied with two outs in the ninth to force extra innings, but a six-run 11th allowed Staten island (11-7) to earn a 12-6 baseball victory March 29.

The Pioneers seized a 1-0 first-inning lead, using a one-out single from junior outfielder AJ Flores (West Orange, N.J./West Orange), a Rich Guillod (Closter, N.J./Northern Valley-Demarest) double down the left-field line and a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior catcher Trevor Haughney (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge).

The Dolphins answered with a two-run second.  Senior second baseman Robert Bernardo led off with a home run down the left-field line, and junior outfielder James Lewis hit a two-out single, stole second, moved to third on a Daniel Lynch base hit and scored via a wild pitch.

Staten Island tacked on one more during the top half of the third inning.  Two walks and a sacrifice were followed by a two-out error, loading the bases for Lewis.  He hit a ball that took a high bounce over the mound that WP freshman shortstop K.C. Abel (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) wasn't able to field in time, forcing across Chris Ramanauskas and making it a 3-1 score.

William Paterson got one of those runs back in the fourth.  Junior second baseman Scott Ptaszynski (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills) drilled a ground ball just inside the bag at third for a leadoff double, then tagged up and moved to third on a flyout by sophomore designated hitter Mike Arnold (Dumont, N.J./Dumont).  Abel then drove in Ptaszynski with a sac fly to center.

A three-run fifth inning gave the lead back to the Pioneers.  Senior outfielder Ryan Gibbons (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) started the frame with a double to right-center, Flores walked and Guillod deposited a single into center field to load the bases.  A strikeout was the first out of the inning, but was followed by a Fondacaro sacrifice fly that plated Gibbons and moved Flores to third.  Guillod stole second, and a wild pitch was enough for Flores to scamper home and advance Guillod a base.  A later wild pitch scored Guillod and made it a 5-3 contest.

CSI tied things up with a pair of runs in the seventh. Singles by Ramanauskas and Bernardo plated the first run, and a wild pitch, one-out error and fielder's choice forced across Bernardo.

Base hits by Lynch and Bryan Moreno put runners on the corners with no outs for Staten Island in the top of the eighth.  Freshman shortstop Joseph Palmeri put down a bunt for the squeeze, and WP pitcher Kevin Cowan (Elizabeth, N.J./Roselle Catholic) elected to try to get the runner at the plate.  But, his throw was much too high, and the Dolphins had a 6-5 lead.

William Paterson forced extra innings in dramatic fashion, tying the score during the home half of the ninth.  Flores sent a groundball up the middle, a leadoff single, but was tagged out when he attempted to steal second.  Guillod was then issued a base on balls, followed by a grounder back to pitcher Robert Jannace off the bat of replacement first baseman Anthony DeEsposito (Ridgefield, N.J./Ridgefield Memorial).  Jannace fired to Palmeri, who made the out at second, but Guillod's hard slide affected the throw to first and DeEsposito was safe.  He was lifted for pinch runner Jared Guglielmino (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) as senior Vin Fondacaro (Pompton Plains, N.J./Pequannock Twp.) came to the plate with two outs.  Fondacaro bombed the ball into the left-center field gap and Guglielmino was able to sprint around and score from first, making it a 6-6 deadlock.  Ptaszynski was then hit by a pitch, but a flyout ended the inning with the winning run at second base.

Freshman Adam Miller (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) was able to get out of a jam in the 10th.  With runners on second and third and one out, Guillod made a tough play to snare a grounder in the hole on the left side of the infield and fire home to Fondacaro, who made the tag for the second out, followed by a strikeout to end the inning.  WP wasn't as fortunate, though, during the top of the 11th.  A single, sacrifice, base hit, passed ball and walk loaded the bases with one out.  An error allowed the go-ahead run to touch home plate, and a bases-loaded walk forced in a second Dolphin.  A sacrifice fly, two-run single and another error handed CSI a 12-6 advantage.

Flores was 4-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, while Guillod finished 2-for-4 and added a double, steal and run.

Senior James Young (Bayonne, N.J./Bayonne) started and allowed four runs (three earned) and six hits in 6.1 innings.  Cowan surrendered two runs, one of them earned, and three hits in 0.2 inning.  Sophomore Joe Moran (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills) faced two batters, issuing an intentional walk and forcing a popup.  Miller took the hard-luck loss (0-1), stretched to 3.2 innings and giving up four hits and six runs (two earned).

Lewis paced CSI at the plate, going 3-for-6 with a RBI and two runs scored.  Starter John Baggs was responsible for eight hits and five runs in 5.0 innings on the mound.  Jannace allowed a run on four hits over 3.2 innings, and Jonathan Aponte (2-0) struck out four while giving up just one hit in 2.1 scoreless innings.

William Paterson will begin New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play Saturday, March 30, with a home doubleheader against Richard Stockton at 11:30 a.m.

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