Box Score EWING, N.J. – Sixth-seeded William Paterson (14-20-1, 7-10-1 NJAC) staved off elimination with an 8-3 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Baseball Tournament victory at fifth-seeded The College of New Jersey (20-18, 8-10 NJAC) May 2.
 
The Pioneers will face third-seeded Montclair State (21-16, 13-5 NJAC) in an elimination game Saturday, May 3, at 11:30 a.m. at Rowan University.
 
WP struck first with a run in the third. Freshman third baseman Chris Santaniello (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) and sophomore left fielder Tyler Garguilo (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) stroked back-to-back singles, and with two outs in the inning, senior designated hitter Trevor Haughney (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) delivered a base hit to left to score Garguilo from second and give William Paterson a 1-0 lead.
 
The Lions answered back with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore John Rizzi singled and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, and junior Anthony Cocuzza legged out an infield single to put runners at the corners with one out. Sophomore Pat Roberts drove a double over the center fielder's head to plate Rizzi and junior Josh Limon followed with a long sacrifice fly to left center to score Cocuzza and edge TCNJ ahead, 2-1.
 
Roberts singled with one out in the fifth, and advanced to second and third via wild pitches. An infield error by the Pioneer defense allowed Roberts to score and stretch TCNJ's lead to 3-1.
 
WP tied the game in the sixth with a pair of unearned runs. With runners on second and third, sophomore first baseman Alex Derner (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional) knocked in a run with a ground ball to second base, and freshman center fielder Mike Abate (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) followed with an RBI-single to even the score at 3-3.
 
The game remained locked at 3-3 until the Pioneers plated three runs on four hits in the eighth. Haughney, who finished 4-for-4 in the game, opened the inning with a base hit. After advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, Haughney raced to third on a base hit by Sophomore right fielder Jimmy Kenny (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex Regional). The ball was mishandled and Haughney came around to score with the go-ahead run. Derner followed with a double to plate Kenny, and freshman catcher Brady Pevny (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) singled in Derner to make it a 6-3 lead.
 
WP tacked on two more in the ninth. A two-out single to right by Kenny plated Garguilo and a later throwing error allowed senior infielder Rob Pasternak (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield) to scamper home.
 
Haughney was 4-for-4, drove in a run and scored twice. Kenny finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, and Garguilo went 2-for-5 and scored twice.
 
Senior Josh Jensen (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) threw the first 5.0 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs (two earned) with five strikeouts and two walks. Junior Kevin Cowan (Elizabeth, N.J./Roselle Catholic) picked up the win in relief (2-2), tossing 4.0 innings of one-hit, scoreless ball.
 
Rizzi was 4-for-5 with a run scored, and Roberts had two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Connor Smith was the starter on the hill, giving up 11 hits and six runs, four of them earned (6-2). Junior Ryan Carmon pitched the final 1.1 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) and two hits.
 
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