Wayne N.J. (4/30/11) – The Kean University baseball cruised to a 16-4 victory in the opener before falling, 11-7, in a late William Paterson rally in the nightcap to earn a split in Saturday's New Jersey Athletic Conference action at Jeff Albies Field.
With today's action the Cougars are 30-7 overall and 13-4 in the NJAC, trailing Rowan University by one game in the win column. Rowan has finished their conference schedule with a 14-4 record. Kean has one makeup game left against Ramapo College scheduled for Monday afternoon. William Paterson kept their playoff hopes alive and now has 19-16-1 overall record and 7-9 record in conference action.
Game One
The Cougars jumped out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to back-to-back three spots in the second and third innings. Senior Nick Nolan got things started with an RBI double scoring senior Kyle Walker who reached on a single. Nolan proceeded to swipe third and one batter later scored off a throwing error by the catcher. Rookie Tyler Smarslok rounded out the scoring with an RBI single to center, scoring sophomore Nick Ramagli who reached as a hit-batsmen. In the third inning the Cougars tacked on three more as senior Ken Gregory recorded an RBI single, scoring senior Chris Carrano who reached on a leadoff single. Junior Lee Cavico crossed the plate on a WPU miscue after reaching on a single and Nolan rounded out the scoring as he recorded an RBI single.
The Pioneers got on the board with their own three run frame in the bottom of the fourth. Shortstop Anthony Dorio led off the inning with a triple and scored on a one-out Kean miscue. Second baseman Scott Ptaszynski registered an RBI double and designated hitter Blake Crouch added an RBI single to put the score at 6-3.
Kean got right back into it, plating multiple runs in every inning but the eighth for the 16-4 final.
Junior Mike Russo (8-0) earned the win as he tossed eight innings allowing three runs, one earned, along with seven hits. He walked one and fanned three.
Offensively Nolan was 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI while Smarslok had two hits and four RBI. Gregory finished with a 4-for-6 performance with three runs scored and two RBI.
Game Two
The Pioneers broke a seven-all tie in the bottom of the eighth with four runs to push past Kean by the final of 11-7 in the nightcap.
WPU tacked on two runs in their first at-bat as Scott Hansen recorded an RBI single scoring A.J. Flores who reached on a leadoff triple. With two outs, Dorio registered an RBI double to give WPU a 2-0 lead.
The Cougars bounced back with a five run, second inning as Nolan launched a two run homerun while Smarslok added an RBI single and Carrano added a two RBI single for the 5-2 lead.
William Paterson would pull within one with a single run in the third and took the lead again with three runs in the fourth. In the fourth infielder Rob Pasternack recorded a two RBI double while outfielder Mike Moran added an RBI triple.
Kean jumped back on top with two runs in the top of the seventh as Carrano delivered a two RBI single up the middle. The Pioneers tied things up at seven-all in the bottom of the same inning benefiting from a Cougar miscue.
William Paterson took the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth as they recorded four runs on four hits, including a Kean error, resulting in three unearned runs.
Offensively Carrano was 3-for-5 with four RBI while junior Vinny Galya was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases.
Sophomore Chris Judge suffered the loss for Kean. Judge (0-1) allowed four runs, one earned, in three and a third innings of relief.
Kean closes out the NJAC regular season when they face Ramapo on Monday.