EWING, N.J. – Crossing the plate a total of eight times during their first five at-bats, the William Paterson baseball team (15-19, 7-8 NJAC) cruised to a 16-6 victory at The College of New Jersey (15-21, 5-10 NJAC) April 23.
With three regular-season games remaining, the Pioneers currently occupy the final spot in the standings for the upcoming six-team NJAC Tournament field.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Senior shortstop Dylan Santos (Nutley, N.J./Nutley) reached on an error to start the top of the third inning and freshman designated hitter Matt Caruso (North Haledon, N.J./Passaic County Technical) immediately made the Lions pay, launching a home run to hand the Pioneers a 2-0 edge.
- WP added four more in the fourth. Junior center fielder Avery Whitney (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) and junior second baseman Devin Daproza (Englewood, N.J./Leonia) started the frame with walks, and after a fielder's choice, Caruso sent a run-scoring base hit through the right side. Junior first baseman Ty Kobylakiewicz's (Woodbridge, N.J./Woodbridge) single down the left-field line plated Santos, junior left fielder Stephen Kubis (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) singled in Caruso, and senior third baseman Angel Colon (Hawthorne, N.J./St. Joseph's Regional) sent home Kobylakiewicz with a sacrifice fly, pushing the margin to 6-0.
- TCNJ used a single, triple, walk and sac fly to score twice during the home half of the fourth.
- An Avery base on balls, Daproza single, Santos sacrifice and Kobylakiewicz two-run double handed WP an 8-2 advantage in the fifth.
- The Pioneers added two more in the sixth with a leadoff base on balls by sophomore catcher Alex Gomez (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford), a Daproza walk and a two-run Caruso single.
- Three base hits produced one Lion run during the bottom of the sixth, 10-3.
- William Paterson added four in the seventh off five straight walks issued to Colon, senior right fielder Jordan Brown (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway), Gomez, Whitney and Daproza, as well as a Santos hit by pitch and Caruso sacrifice fly.
- TCNJ's walk and double added one to its ledger, 13-4, during the bottom of the eighth inning.
- WP's final two runs came during the top of the ninth, stringing together a Whitney walk, Santos base hit, Caruso hit by pitch, Kobylakiewicz RBI-single and Kubis sac fly.
- The Lions touched home twice during their final at-bat with a walk, hit by pitch, groundout and double.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Caruso drove in six runs with his 4-for-5 effort, posting a home run, sac fly and two runs scored.
- Kobylakiewicz was 3-for-7 with a double, four RBI and run scored.
- Junior Jose Marte (Bogota, N.J./Bogota) allowed three unearned runs over 6.0 innings, scattering seven hits and two walks while striking out three (4-1).
- Sophomore Jayden Villalta (Pompton Lakes, N.J./Pompton Lakes) tossed the final 3.0 innings and gave up three runs on four hits and two walks.
UP NEXT:
- William Paterson will host TCNJ for a single game Friday, April 24, at 3:30 p.m.
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