AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The William Paterson baseball team (3-0) crossed the plate six times during the middle three innings to hand Wheaton, Mass. (2-1) it first loss of the season, 11-10, March 9 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After spotting the Lyons a 2-0 lead during the top of the first inning, junior second baseman Matt Ferrara's (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) RBI-grounder plated sophomore center fielder Steven DiGirolamo (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) during the Pioneers' first at-bat, and a Greg Cuevas (West New York, N.J./St. Mary (Rutherford)) run-scoring ground ball and Ferrara's two-run single through the left side made it a 4-2 WP edge after two innings.
• Three base hits and a pair of doubles plated four Wheaton runs during the top of the third, and the Lyons used two hits and an error to add two more in the fourth for an 8-4 edge.
• William Paterson got one run back during the home half of the fourth, thanks to three hit by pitches and a groundout. After Wheaton made it a 9-5 margin in the fifth, senior pinch hitter Shane Adams (Cape May, N.J./Cape May Tech) doubled in junior left fielder Carlos Perez (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) and sophomore catcher Steve Yelin (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional), and sophomore right fielder Danny Carter (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) trotted home when Cuevas grounded out, pulling WP to within one at 9-8.
• Sophomore first baseman Carson Weis (River Vale, N.J./Pascack Valley Regional) singled in Yelin and Cuevas lifted a sacrifice fly to plate Carter, handing the Pioneers a 10-9 advantage after six frames.
• DiGirolamo doubled and scored via a Yelin base hit to right, adding one seventh-inning insurance run.
• A bases-loaded sac fly finished the scoring for the Lyons during the top half of the eighth inning.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Yelin finished 3-for-5 with a double, RBI and two runs scored.
• Cuevas and Ferrara each tallied three RBI, while DiGirolamo, Carter and Adams each contributed two hits.
• Sophomore Jordan Manne (Mahwah, N.J./Mahwah) picked up the win in relief (1-0), allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks, striking out two over 3.0 innings.
• Senior Eric Rosenberg (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) struck out three during 1.2 innings of work for his first save of the season.

 
UP NEXT:

• William Paterson will square off against Washington and Jefferson for a doubleheader Sunday, March 10, at 4:30 p.m. 

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