WAYNE, NJ – Trailing 10-6 heading into the ninth inning, the #7 Rowan baseball team needed a big rally and that's what it got, as the Profs scored eight runs in their half of the inning and pulled off a 14-10 win over William Paterson to earn a doubleheader sweep in the NJAC opener.
Rowan (14-4; 2-0 NJAC) captured the first game, 16-0, as lefthander Eli Atiya (4-0) went the distance, scattering five hits and striking out a personal best 11 batters while recording the first shutout and complete game of his career.
The eight-run rally in the ninth inning of the second game was accomplished with just three hits and two William Paterson (12-8; 0-2 NJAC) errors, and started when Dylan Maria reached base on a fielder's choice to bring home Ryan Murphy. From there, the Profs got an RBI single from Trip McCaffrey, a two-run single from Chris Curcio and an RBI single by Chris Serrano. Murphy reached on a William Paterson error allowing Curcio to score, Eric DiDomenico had an RBI after being hit by a pitch and Carson Harcourt reached base on a fielder's choice to bring home Murphy. Reliever Christian Bascunan kept the Pioneers from scoring in the ninth to preserve the win.
Game 1:
Chris Curcio went 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBI, with Patrick Defeciani going 3-for-4, with three runs and three RBI. Murphy was 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and Anthony Schooley went 3-for-5 and scored two runs.
Rowan built up a 9-0 lead after four innings, starting with RBI singles from Curcio and Schooley and an RBI walk drawn by Wroniuk in the first inning. Curcio doubled in a run and Murphy hit a three-run home run, his seventh round-tripper of the year, in the second inning. Defeciani doubled to bring in a run in the third and Brandon Shine singled to score Schooley in the fourth.
The Profs exploded for seven more in the seventh inning helped by a two-run double by Wroniuk. Shine then came through with his second RBI of the game on a single, followed by Trip McCaffrey reaching base on a fielder's choice to drive in a run. Defeciani closed out the scoring with a two-run double that brought home Tyler Cannon and McCaffrey.
Game 2:
The Profs fell behind, 6-0, in the fifth but responded with four in the sixth inning as Defeciani (sacrifice fly), Schooley (single), Marc Hernandez (sacrifice) and Ryan Mostrangeli (single) each brought home a run.
William Paterson added three more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh to take a 10-4 lead. Rowan was able to pick up two in the eighth inning and cut the deficit to 10-6, as the Profs were issued five walks. DiDomenico eventually scored on a wild pitch and Hernandez crossed the plate on a double play, thus setting Rowan up for its big inning in the ninth.
Patrick Sudnikovich (1-0) earned the second victory of his career in relief as he followed starter Donald Zellman, and relievers Jason O'Neill and Mike Shannon. Sudnikovich struck out one and allowed just one run in 2.0 innings.
William Paterson pounded out 20 hits in the loss, while Rowan scored 14 on just eight hits. Curcio was the only Prof witih multiple hits, going 2-for-5, while Murphy scored three runs.