WAYNE, N.J. – In an offensive slugfest, the Union College baseball team defeated William Paterson, 17-13, Tuesday at Pioneer Baseball Park. The contest, which featured 31 combined hits, was called after eight innings due to darkness.
Paul Mene (Falls Church, Va.) was 4-for-6 with two runs scored,
Zach Tillo (Lancaster, Mass.) was 4-for-6 with four runs.
Colin McKelligan (Canton, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored and
Shawn Johnston (Hamilton, N.J.) was 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored for the Dutchmen, who saw six players record multiple hits in the game.
The Dutchmen (1-0) took an early 7-0 lead, thanks to a single run in the second, and three scores during both the first and third innings. Johnston had the big hit of the early going with a two-run triple in the third.
William Patterson sophomore Andrue Laguerre had a RBI-single in the bottom of the third, making it a 7-1 score, before Union answered with three more runs in the fourth, two coming off a
Ryan Bowes (Hamilton, N.J.) single.
William Paterson scored four runs in the home half of the fourth, thanks to a Vin Ganz RBI single, a run-scoring error, and a walk and hit batsmen with the bases loaded. Those runs made the score 10-5, but the Dutchmen put runs on the scoreboard for the fifth straight inning, this time scoring five in the fifth kicked off by a double down the left field line by McKelligan.
Junior Will Courter's double in the bottom of the inning accounted for three of the Pioneers' four runs in the bottom of the fifth, making it a 15-9 game.
Pat Wilson (Cos Cob, Conn.) hit a two-run homer to left for a 17-9 Union lead in the sixth, but William Paterson was able to get the two runs back after a bases-loaded walk and a fielder's choice a half-inning later.
The Pioneers kept the Dutchmen off the board during the seventh and eighth innings, and were able to score a pair of runs in the seventh when John Elia singled in Anthony Perrone, and freshman Ray Puluse drew a bases-loaded walk.
Laguerre was 3-for-5 with two runs, Ganz was 2-for-4 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored, and Courter was 2-for-6 with a double, three RBI and a run for William Paterson.
Matt Sheehan (Lexington, Mass.) took the victory, allowing two hits and an earned run while striking out two in three innings. Sophomore Greg Stokes suffered the loss for William Patterson (0-1), giving up five hits and four runs (two earned) in 1.2 innings. McKelligan closed out the game with a pair of strikeouts while giving up one hit in the final 1.2 innings.
Union is idle until a five-game Florida swing which starts with a doubleheader against Liberty League foe St. Lawrence in Fort Myers on March 22. The Dutchmen then play three games in three days in Punta Gorda, Fla.
