DAVENPORT, FLA. – The William Paterson baseball team's (5-11) comeback bid fell short March 22 during the Pioneers' RussMatt Central Florida Invitational finale, as Wisconsin-Stevens Point (5-4) came away with an 8-5 victory.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Pointers used a single, hit by pitch, walk and sacrifice fly for a 1-0 edge during the top of the first inning.
• UWSP added two more in the second behind a double, walk, sacrifice bunt, sac fly and base hit.
• Singles by junior first baseman Gio Aresta and senior left fielder Noah Cabassa (Pomona, N.Y./North Rockland) and a hit by pitch for junior right fielder Christian Hay (River Edge, N.J./River Dell Regional) loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, and junior second baseman Tom Radigan's (Verona, N.J./Verona) fielder's choice made it a 3-1 game.
• Junior designated hitter RJ Mehnert (Wayne, N.J./DePaul Catholic) tripled in junior shortstop Tyler Ruban (Oak Ridge, N.J./Jefferson Twp.), who opened the home half of the third with a double, for a 3-2 margin.
• Two base hits and a sacrifice added one Pointer fourth-inning run, and UWSP pushed it to a 6-2 lead in the sixth via back-to-back solo home runs.
• Mehnert led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk, followed by an Aresta double and RBI-groundouts by Cabassa and Hay to cut the deficit to 6-4.
• WP made it a one-run game in the eighth inning thanks to base hits by Mehnert and Aresta and a run-scoring infield single from junior pinch hitter Connor Luckie (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton High West), 6-5.
• A two-run UWSP single in the top of the ninth pushed the lead to 8-5.
• The Pioneers had the potential tying run at the plate with two outs in the ninth, but a flyout ended the contest.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Mehnert went 3-for-4 with a triple, RBI and two runs scored.
• Aresta finished 3-for-5 while adding a double and scoring twice, and Ruban was 2-for-5 and collected a double and run.
• Senior Ian Metzger (Verona, N.J./Verona) was the starter, allowing seven hits, four runs and two walks while striking out four during 5.0 innings pitched (1-3).
• Senior Darmany Rivas (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) tossed 1.0 inning and surrendered two runs on two hits, posting one punchout.
• Junior Neel Telidevara (Dayton, N.J./South Brunswick) contributed 1.0 shutout inning, scattering two hits and a walk while collecting two strikeouts.
• Sophomore Jose Marte (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) worked 2.0 innings and gave up two runs, two hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

 
UP NEXT:

• William Paterson will play at Keystone Tuesday, March 26, at 3:30 p.m.

 
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