WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson baseball team (12-11-2, 5-3 NJAC) rallied late to forge a 4-4 tie, but Rutgers-Newark (17-6-11, 6-2 NJAC) posted one run during the bottom of the eighth inning for a 5-4 victory April 14.
The game was originally scheduled for the Scarlet Raiders' facility, but was instead moved to WP's Jeff Albies Field, meaning the Pioneers were the visiting team statistically during the contest.
William Paterson scored first, pushing across two runs during the top of the second inning. Senior catcher Mike Knauf (Manalapan, N.J./Manalapan) walked and freshman center fielder Carlos Perez (Hawthorne, N.J./Hawthorne) doubled down the left-field line before junior third baseman Bernard Brito (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn) singled to left center to plate both runners.
Senior left fielder Josh Cote leveled the score in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer over the fence in left-center field.
Rutgers-Newark went ahead in the bottom half of the sixth. With a runner on third and two outs, freshman shortstop Matt Ferrara (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) made a diving stop in the hole and threw to first, but the runner was called safe instead of being the third out, and the runner scored the go-ahead run on the play. Sophomore shortstop Ryan Zucker later added a run-scoring double and the Scarlet Raiders owned a 4-2 advantage.
Three consecutive base hits by junior second baseman Rob Eggert (South Plainfield, N.J./South Plainfield), Ferrara and senior left fielder Mike Rowe (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove) loaded the bags to start the top of the eighth. Junior right fielder Anthony Hoagland (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) singled in Eggert, and after a fielder's choice and popup, Perez drew a walk to force in the tying run, 4-4.
A single, sacrifice and groundout put junior third baseman Brian Boulineau on third base with two outs during the bottom of the eighth inning. Freshman second baseman JC Ball's RBI-single to left drove in the go-ahead run.
Perez went 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored. Brito plated a pair of runs.
Sophomore starter Chris Babb (West Milford, N.J./DePaul Catholic) went 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and five walks while striking out five. Junior Adam Miller (West Orange, N.J./West Orange) surrendered a run and a hit while striking out three in 1.1 innings (1-1), and freshman Zach Polzer (North Haledon, N.J./Passaic County Tech) tossed the final 0.2 innings and gave up a hit.
Ball was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for Rutgers-Newark. Junior reliever Yanni Vayas earned the win with 1.0 inning of shutout relief (1-0), and junior Luis Rojas picked up his fifth save with a one-walk ninth.
William Paterson will play a doubleheader at Kean Saturday, April 15, at 11:30 a.m.
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