Box Score


Ewing, NJ … The College of New Jersey baseball team defeated William Paterson University 5-1 on Thursday in the second round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs.
 
Senior Eric Lewis (Wantagh, NY/W.C. Mepham) pitched brilliantly for the Lions (23-19), earning his fifth win of the season to keep TCNJ's hopes alive in the tournament. The Lions now advance to the third round and play Rowan University at Kean University this Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The Profs dropped a 12-7 decision to Ramapo College today.
 
The Pioneers (29-13) were eliminated from the conference playoffs. They will wait to find out from the NCAA selection committee whether their season will continue with an at-large bid to the NCAA championship tournament.
 
Freshman Jacob Dewitt (Florence, NJ/Florence) had a pair of runs batted in, while senior Jimmy Ruzich (Verona, NJ/Montclair Kimberley Academey) and junior Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) each had two hits to lead the offense.
 
TCNJ played superb defense in the game. Three inning-ending double plays stifled the WPU offense as the Lions did not commit an error under wet field conditions.
 
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Senior Anthony Dorio (Lyndhurst, NJ/Lyndhurst) led off with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior James Lauer (Hamilton, NJ/Pennington Prep). Sophomore A.J. Flores (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) singled to right field, scoring Dorio with the first run of the game.
 
The inning continued with a walk and a single to load the bases, but junior Scott Kelly (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-North) turned a tremendous double play to end the inning without any further damage. He ranged far to his right to backhand a ball up the middle, raced back to step on second base for the force before firing to first to complete the twin-killing.
 
In the fourth, TCNJ broke through with a pair of runs. Ruzich singled up the middle to lead off the inning. Senior Mike Galeotafiore (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) then laid down a perfect drag bunt inside the third base line. Murphy followed with a near-identical bunt for a base hit and the Lions had the bases soaked with nobody out.
 
Dewitt, who entered the game 5-for-10 with the bases loaded this season, ripped a single up the middle to score Ruzich. A ground ball to second base by freshman Josh Limon (Easthampton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) plated Galeotafiore and the Lions held a 2-1 advantage.
 
The Pioneers put a pair of runners on base with one out in the seventh. Catcher Vin Fondacarro (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock Twp.) and Dorio hit consecutive singles to right field. The Lions' infield responded by turning their third double play of the game. Lauer hit a sharp ground ball to third and Dewitt stepped on third and rifled a throw to first to end the scoring threat.
 
Pitching in his final game at George Ackerman Park, Lewis was exceptional. He went eight innings surrendering one run on six hits and struck out two. Lewis recorded 12 ground ball outs in the game and did not allow an extra base hit to a Pioneer offense that led the NJAC in doubles (107), home runs (25), and total bases (676).
 
In the bottom of the eighth, TCNJ tacked on three insurance runs. Dewitt was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 3-1. A balk and a wild pitch scored two more to afford the Lions' bullpen some breathing room.
 
Senior Mike Ham (Sparta, NJ/Pope John XXIII) pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
 
Pioneer sophomore Josh Jensen (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) pitched extremely well, but suffered the loss. He gave up two runs in seven innings of work and struck out three. Sophomore Scott Ptaszynski (Wharton, NJ/Morris Hills) contributed two hits for WPU.
 
With a win at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, TCNJ would play the game immediately after at 3:30 p.m. All games for the remainder of the tournament will be played at Kean in Union, NJ.