DAVENPORT, Fla. – The William Paterson baseball team (12-4) overcame an early deficit to pull away from Wisconsin-Eau Claire (4-4) for a 13-5 victory March 20 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• A two-run homer handed the Blugold a first-inning lead.
• The Pioneers cut the deficit in half during the home half of the second thanks to a single to right by sophomore left fielder Stephen Kubis (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills), a double to center by junior right fielder Thomas Jova (Gillette, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) and a sacrifice fly by senior catcher Connor Luckie (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton High West).
• WP took the lead with a four-run third inning. Senior center fielder Braden Ramirez (Middlesex, N.J./Union Catholic) sent a one-out double to right field, sophomore first baseman Ty Kobylakiewicz (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) walked and junior third baseman Dylan Santos (Nutley, N.J./Nutley) collected an RBI-single. Kubis' base hit loaded the bags, followed by a hit by pitch for senior designated hitter Tom Radigan (Verona, N.J./Verona) to push the Pioneers ahead. Jova's walk forced in a run and Luckie hit his second sac fly of the game, making it a 5-2 score.
• A Kobylakieiwicz two-out double, Santos run-scoring base hit and Kubis RBI-double resulted in a 7-2 margin after four frames.
• Wisconsin-Eau Claire crossed the plate once during the top of the fifth.
• Sophomore second baseman Devin Daproza (Englewood, N.J./Leonia) drew a base on balls and junior shortstop Angel Colon (Hawthorne, N.J./St. Joseph's Regional) and Ramirez had back-to-back hits, extending the lead to 8-3.
• Luckie singled in Santos during the bottom of the sixth inning, 9-3.
• A sac fly posted one Blugold run in the seventh.
• Kobylakiewicz singled in Ramirez in the seventh (10-4) before WP added three more runs in the eighth with a Jova walk, Luckie and Daproza base hits, Colon sac fly, and Ramirez and Kobylakiewicz RBI-singles.
• A final sacrifice fly produced one ninth-inning tally for Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Luckie drove in three runs and scored once as part of a 2-for-3 day. Santos was 4-for-6 with two RBI and three runs scored, while Ramirez finished 4-for-6 with a double, two RBI and two runs.
• Kubis was 4-for-6, adding a double, an RBI and two runs scored, and Kobylakiewicz went 3-for-5 with a double two RBI and a pair of runs.
• Senior Chase Geisler (Lodi, N.J./Lodi) improved to 4-0 with 6.0 innings of work, scattering four runs, nine hits and five strikeouts.
• Sophomore Kevin Reiner (Maywood, N.J./Hackensack) and senior Neel Telidevara (Dayton, N.J./South Brunswick) each contributed 1.0 inning of perfect relief. Junior Nick Durso (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills) allowed a run and hit during the ninth.

 
UP NEXT:

• William Paterson will finish play at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Friday, March 21, against Salem State at 9:30 a.m.

 
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