The Baruch College Bearcats held a big lead but let it slip away in losing a high-scoring 22-14 non-conference contest to the Pioneers of William Paterson University on Tuesday afternoon in Wayne, New Jersey.

The visiting Bearcats (11-9), playing one of their toughest schedules in team history, started in the best possible fashion by jumping out to a 5-0 lead.

They added two more runs in the third and six more in the fourth inning for a 12-5 advantage through the middle of the fourth inning.

Unfortunately, the Pioneers scored in each of the next four innings, including eight runs in the seventh inning, to bust open the contest in one of the highest scoring games of the Division III season.

The Bearcats totaled 14 runs on 15 hits led by Jasdeep Buttar(3-for-5) and Nicholas Pomo-Roman(3-for-6, 2 RBI).

Eric Ulino(2-for-4), Matthew Ballone(2-for-6), and Daniel Arango(2-for-5, 3 runs) had two hits each in the disappointing loss. John Yuksekolfinished with three RBI.

The loss was a painful one with four players hit by pitches.

Five different players had at least three hits for the Pioneers (16-6).

The Bearcats will return to action on Thursday with a 4:00 pm non-conference home contest against FDU-Florham at Bronx Community College.