Little Falls, NJ – Freshman leftfielder
MICKEY MCGRAW (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) went 2-for-3 with a homer, three RBI and punctuated his afternoon with an all-out over-the shoulder running catch on the warning track to end the game as Montclair State knocked off William Paterson, 10-7 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest at Yogi Berra Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Senior rightfielder
SCOTT EVANGELIST (Northfield, NJ / Holy Spirit) was 4-for-5 with an RBI while
MATT HARTWICK (Ringwood, NJ / Lakeland Regional) added a pinch-hit two-run single as the Red Hawks (19-13) leaped over the Pioneers into third place in the NJAC at 10-5, a half-game ahead of WP. Montclair has three games remaining - all on the road - as it visits New Jersey City on Friday, April 25 and a doubleheader at Rowan on Saturday, April 26. The NJAC Tournament begins on Tuesday, April 28 with the top three seeds all receiving opening-round home games.
Junior second baseman Miguel Lugo (Jersey City, NJ / St. Mary's) went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs for the Pioneers, who fell to 19-15 overall, 10-6 in the conference. William Paterson finishes off its league slate on Saturday with a home doubleheader against Richard Stockton at Pioneer Park (12:00 pm).
The Red Hawks trailed 5-2 in the fourth inning before erupting for six runs in the inning.
JASON LOPEZ (west New York, NJ / Memorial) began the rally with a one-out single and Zach Brown (Green Village, NJ / Morristown) doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third. Hartwick then came to the plate an ripped a ball back up the middle scoring both runners as MSU cut the lead to 5-4.
JAY BIONDE (Pompton Plains, NJ / Pequannock) then lofted the next pitch to left field. Leftfielder Mike Moran (Pompton Plains, NJ / Pequannock) lost his footing and the ball went over his head for a double allowing Hartwick to score with the tying run and Bionde advanced to third on the throw home.
McGraw then executed a suicide squeeze that nearly backfired as Bionde lost his footing running toward the plate. But the ball was pushed out far enough allowing Bionde to get up and score as MSU took the lead 6-5. After a fly out and walk to
ED KLOEPPING (Pennsville, NJ / Pennsvile),
MICHAEL BOGGI (Towaco, NJ / Montville) laced a two-run double to right center as the Red Hawks went up 8-5.
William Paterson would get a run back in the fifth inning as
MARC PALESTINA (Paramus, NJ / Paramus) drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded, but reliever
MICHAEL STREAMAN (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) got a line out to end the threat. McGraw would get that run plus one more back for MSU in the bottom half of the inning as he lined a two-run homer just over the right field fence for his first of the year as Montclair led 10-6.
The Pioneers scored once more in the eighth as Mike Guadango (Upper Saddle River, NJ / Northern Highlands) collected an RBI single. But that would be as close as William Paterson would get as
SCOTT SHAN (Toms River, NJ /Toms River East) retired the side in order in the ninth for his second save of the year as the Red Hawks avenged a 16-3 loss to the Pioneers in Wayne six days ago.
Streaman picked up the victory as he improved to 5-0. He went 2 2/3 innings in relief allowing a run on three hits, striking out three and walking two. Junior Scott Zirul (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) took the loss as he fell to 5-2. Zirul gave up eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings, walking two.
After William Paterson squandered a leadoff triple from Lugo in the first, Montclair took a 2-0 lead in its first at bat. Evangelist delivered a run-scoring double and Kloepping plated another with a ground out. But the Pioneers struck right back with five runs in the second. Anthony Dorio (Lyndhurst, NJ / Lyndhurst) walked with the bases loaded. Lugo followed with a two-run single for a 3-2 WP lead and two throwing errors allowed two more runs to scored as the Pioneers held a 5-2 advantage.
Guadango and Bionde both finished with three hits in the game while John Elia (Emerson, NJ / Pascack Valley) was 2-for-5 for the Pioneers.
