Wayne, NJ – Sophomore shortstop JAMES SCELZO lofted a sacrifice fly to break a 2-2 tie in the sixth and three pitchers combined to throw 5.2 innings of scoreless relief as Montclair State defeated William Paterson, 3-2, in the New Jersey Athletic Conference baseball finale for both teams Sunday at Pioneer Baseball Park.

The victory enabled the Red Hawks (21-13-2, 13-5 NJAC) to claim a share of the NJAC regular-season championship and the No. 2 seed in the NJAC Tournament beginning Wednesday, May 3, at campus sites. Montclair State will host No. 5-seeded Rowan that day at 3:30 p.m. at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls. William Paterson (26-12, 13-5 NJAC) had previously claimed the NJAC Tournament's top seed based on a tiebreaker over Montclair State and will host No. 6-seeded Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m.

Freshman righty CHRIS SCHINDLER earned his first career victory, improving to 1-0 after allowing two hits and no runs in 2.2 innings for Montclair State. Sophomore right-hander NICK RECCHIA fired two scoreless innings as well before sophomore righty TIM STRINGER  threw a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his first save of the season.

Montclair State loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth as junior catcher ANDREW VICARO walked, freshman right fielder SCOTT EVANGELIST was hit by a pitch and sophomore first baseman LOU POLITAN laid down a perfectly placed bunt single. Scelzo then skied a fly ball deep enough that Vicaro scored the go-ahead run easily.

Both teams traded single runs in the second and third innings. Scelzo singled home a run in the second and Vicaro boomed a two-out RBI triple in the third for Montclair State. William Paterson's runs came on singles by senior left fielder Anthony Pastore in the second and senior catcher Frank Muzikar in the third. Pastore and Muzikar were two of the Pioneers' three seniors honored before the game, with outfielder Pete Zaccheria being the other. Scelzo drove in two runs and Politan went 3-for-4 as Montclair State hammered out nine hits.

Sophomore center fielder MICHAEL NUNES added two hits in five at-bats for the Red Hawks.

Muzikar, junior third baseman Mike Rivera  and junior first baseman Ted King each had two hits for the Pioneers, who also finished with nine hits. King extended his hitting streak to 12 games in the loss. Junior righty Vincent Martino absorbed the loss for William Paterson, falling to 1-3 despite striking out a career-high nine. He scattered seven hits and three runs over six innings while walking three.  

William Paterson returns to action Tuesday, May 2, when it hosts Centenary for a 3:30 p.m. non-conference contest. Montclair State plays the same day and time at home against York (PA).