WAYNE, N.J. – The TCNJ baseball team fell to William Paterson, 28-7, in Friday NJAC action. The Lions' offense pounded out 18 hits, including three-hit afternoons from Sebastian JnoBaptiste and Justin Marcario. Four other Lions had two hits.
 
TCNJ had a strong start, scoring five times in the first inning, all after two outs. Chris Reeder singled to center, and a Chris Cote single put runners at the corners. Joe Oczkowski singled home Reeder to make it 1-0, and Marcario doubled home two more runs to make it 3-0.
 
Andrew Fernandez followed with a single to score Marcario, and Zach Weiner doubled down the left field line to plate Fernandez. That pushed the TCNJ first-inning output to five runs.
 
TCNJ ran into trouble with the WPU offense in each of the first five frames as the Pioneers put up crooked numbers in each. WPU replied to TCNJ's five runs in the top of the first with seven of their own in the bottom half. A 10-run fifth inning for WPU capped the offensive explosion to make it 27-5.
 
The Lions continued to battle at the plate. In the sixth, Joey Cruciata led off with a single up the middle, and he later scored on JnoBaptiste's single to center. JnoBaptiste reached base four times to lead the Lions.
 
Cruciata was on the other side of the Lions' seventh run in the seventh inning. Marcario and Weiner each singled to put two men on with two outs, and Cruciata knocked a single to left to plate Marcario.
 
Cruciata joined Oczkowski, Fernandez and Weiner with two hits apiece.
 
The loss snaps the Lions' five-game winning streak. TCNJ returns to action on Sunday with a home NJAC doubleheader against Rutgers-Newark at 11:30 a.m.