William Paterson Sinks Stevens with Ninth Inning Home Run
Justin Lutes
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 27, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team fell in heartbreaking fashion to William Paterson University on Wednesday evening at Dobbelaar Field by way of a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning. William Paterson broke a 4-4 deadlock with the three-run shot to claim the victory, 7-4. Stevens is now 9-5 this season, while the Pioneers improve to 10-3.
Stevens struck first in the game during the bottom of the second inning after freshman
Jayson Yano (Foothill Ranch, Calif.) came home from third base on a stolen base by sophomore
Ryan Mannello (Staten Island, N.Y.).
The Ducks threatened to score in the third with junior
Curt Lowenstein (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) on second base and one out. Lowenstein reached on a hit by pitch and then moved up on a stolen base. Sophomore
Pete Prontnicki (Edison, N.J.) stepped to the plate and roped a single to centerfield. Lowenstein had to freeze on the line drive before advancing to third but was thrown out by the centerfielder. Prontnicki tried to take second on the throw but was gunned down by the William Paterson third basemen at second to complete the double play and end the inning.
In the fourth frame, Stevens built its lead to 3-0 on a two-run, two-out double Mannello. Junior
Dan Allen (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) led off the inning with a single and then moved up to second on a stolen bag. Senior
Michael Donovan (Frisco, Texas) singled and stole second to put both runners in scoring position with no outs. The next two hitters struck out before the Mannello double.
Junior lefty
Mark Poinsett (Ocean Gate, N.J.) earned the start and cruised through the first four innings with six strikeouts but ran into trouble in the fifth. Poinsett loaded the bases on two singles and hit batter before recording an out. William Paterson’s KC Abel then came up to bat and ripped a bases-clearing double down the leftfield line to knot the contest at 3-3.
After a sacrifice bunt moved Abel up to third base, Poinsett issued a walk to the next hitter and was lifted from the game for sophomore
Gary Boardman (Staten Island, N.Y.). A steal attempt by Ryan Gibbons was denied by Lowenstein for the second out before Boardman punched out the following batter to end the stanza.
Stevens regained the lead, 4-3, in the bottom of the fifth on a fielding error by the Pioneers’ third baseman after a successful steal by Lowenstein at third base. Lowenstein smacked a double to the right-centerfield gap to get on and tallied the go-ahead run after the steal. The junior went 2-for-3 in the contest with three stolen bases and a run scored.
The Pioneers answered back with a run in the top of the sixth inning on a double play with runners on first and third base to tie the contest back up at 4-4.
In the bottom of the eighth, Lowenstein beat out an infield single to lead off the inning then stole second. Freshman
Nick Sieber (Shrewsbury, Mass.) moved Lowenstein over to third on a sacrifice bunt but the next two batters for the Ducks could not get the ball out of the infield to bring Lowenstein across the plate.
In the top of the ninth, the Pioneers put their first two runners on by way of a walk and single. They then tried to sacrifice bunt the runners up to second and third, but Yano, who came into pitch in the sixth inning, gunned down the lead runner to spoil the attempt. Yano then struck out the next batter to force William Paterson into its last out of the frame. Before the next batter came up, Yano was replaced by sophomore
Peirce Marston (Silver Spring, Md.), and the first batter he faced, Ryan Gibbons, belted the game-winning homer to dead centerfield on a 2-1 pitch.
Yano suffered the loss in the contest, while the Pioneers’ Frankie Colasante earned the win with two scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth.
Both teams recorded seven hits in the game, while the Ducks swiped seven bags.
Stevens will be back on the diamond on Friday and Saturday for two doubleheaders against Empire 8 Conference rival St. John Fisher College. Friday’s double dip is slated to start at 4 p.m.