Little Falls, NJ (4/30/10) – Sophomore catcher Kevin Bond (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) belted a home run and drove in three runs while sophomore lefty Sean Hille (Edison, NJ / St. Joseph’s (Metuchen)) overcame a rough first inning to pick up his seventh win of the season as Montclair State picked up a key victory in the race for the NJAC Tournament with a 13-6 victory over William Paterson at Yogi Berra Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Scott Evangelist (Northfield, NJ / Holy Spirit) had two hits and two RBI for MSU (19-14), which won its second straight and more importantly improved to 9-7 in the conference with the win. MSU kept pace with The College of New Jersey for fourth place in the league heading into the final day of games on Saturday. Montclair and TCNJ square off tomorrow in Ewing in a doubleheader beginning at 11:30 am. Both teams are also a game behind Rutgers-Newark for third place.

Senior designated hitter Mike Guadagno (Upper Saddle River, NJ / Northern Highlands) blasted a three-run homer for William Paterson, which dropped its third straight. The Pioneers are now 16-19-1 overall, 6-10 in the NJAC as they fell to Montclair for the second time in a week as WPU fell 16-9 in Wayne on April 23.

William Paterson scored five times in the top of first inning as the first five hitters all collected hits. Anthony Dorio (Lyndhurst, NJ / Lyndhurst) singled to center to open the game and Miguel Lugo (Jersey City, NJ / St. Mary’s) singled through the left side putting runners at first and second. Guadagno cleared them all as he hit the first pitch over the left field wall for his eight home of the year and a 3-0 Pioneer lead. Frank Franco (Wayne, NJ / Wayne Hills) and Jack Montanile (Weehawken, NJ / Hudson Catholic) followed with base hits and the Pioneers caught a break as Andrew Laugerre’s (Jersey City, NJ / St. Benedict’s Prep) fielder’s choice was thrown away allowing to more to score as William Paterson held a 5-0 lead before MSU came to bat.

Montclair would cut into that lead immediately scoring twice in its half of the first. Bond plated the first run with a fielder’s choice and Mike Boggi (Towaco, NJ / Montville) doubled down the left field line to score another as the Red Hawks made the score 3-2. MSU would then tie the game in the fourth as Jason Chesterman (Bloomfield, NJ / Bloomfield) had an RBI single. Evangelist doubled with the bases loaded scoring two more as Montclair knotted the game at 5-5.

William Paterson would go back out on top in the top of the fifth on a Laguerre RBI single however Montclair countered with two in its half to take the lead for good. Boggi walked and scored as Mickey McGraw (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) doubled to left. Kevin Miller (Bloomfield, NJ / Bloomfield) added an RBI single as MSU moved in front 7-6. Bond’s two-run homer (sixth of the season) in the sixth extended the lead to 9-6 and MSU scored three times in the seventh without the benefit of a hit as the Pioneers committed three errors in the inning to make the score 12-6.  Mike Ercolano’s (Vernon, NJ / Vernon) RBI single in the eight capped the scoring for the Red Hawks.

Meanwhile Hille settled down over the next seven innings allowing a run and scattering seven hits during that time frame. Hille improved to 7-2 on the year as he allowed 12 hits in eight innings, striking out five and walking two.  Steve Coral (Totowa, NJ / Passaic Valley) took the loss falling to 1-3.  Will Traverso (Verona, NJ / Verona) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Red Hawks.

Evangelist, Bond, Boggi, McGraw and Miller had two hits apiece for Montclair, which collected 13 in the game. Dorio, Lugo, Franco, Montanile and Laguerre each had two for William Paterson.

William Paterson closes out its schedule on Saturday, May 1 as they head to Union, NJ to face Kean University also at 11:30 am.