Little Falls, NJ – This season, the ding of aluminum striking cowhide has replaced the crack of a wooden bat heard at Yogi Berra Stadium last spring. But even if you did not hear the difference in sounds, you saw the changes up on the scoreboard and in the box scored Friday afternoon.

Just by putting different bats in Montclair State's bat racks, guys like CRAIG CONWAY and GEORGE GALLAGHER are enjoying their at-bats much as they did in Little League. There is the familiar ping from past seasons when they sprayed ball all over the yard during Montclair State's 11-9 victory over SUNY Cortland, the sweetest sound any Red Hawk hitter can hear.

Nothing against the wood bats, but.. well, bringing back the metal bats makes the game so much more fun.

"Any hitter would like it, Gallagher said with a broad smile after raising his batting average to .548 following a 3-for-5 effort.

With a fresh batch of bats in their arsenal, the Red Hawks (8-2-1), struck for 16 hits Friday while winning their fifth straight game. They are an early-season juggernaut, averaging 13.4 runs during this recent hot streak. This is a far cry from a year ago, when they slowly pieced together rallies while playing the wood-bat game favored by most of the New Jersey Athletic Conference coaches for safety reasons.

Perhaps going back to metal is best, though, when you consider that the new NCAA-mandated bats allow for more reaction time upon contact – and also because Norm Schoenig's squad probably will not win as many arms races as it has in seasons past. On Friday, junior southpaw SCOTT ALLAN slowed eight hits and four earned runs across 4 2/3 innings as MSU trailed 6-5 after five innings.

Considering how the Red Hawks put up four runs with a couple of quick first-inning swings, there was ot worry or panic when they trailed 7-6 heading into their half of the seventh. Not with so much time remaining, with so many chances to alter a game with a couple of cracks of the aluminum bats.

"We're definitely going to put up our share of runs," said Conway, a junior third baseman who went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and four RBI while falling a triple short of hitting for the cycle. "We have a World Series team, hitting-wise."

Quick, fast and in a hurry, Montclair State seized this game with a handful of sweet swings. Balls traveled much further and faster with metal striking them, which lends hope to any nine-inning affair becoming a slugfest.

Sure enough, that's how things unfolded, especially in the seventh for MSU. Conway started a domino effect by cracking a two-run double into the right-center field gap. Gallagher followed by smoking an RBI triple to right and center fielder FRANK LONGO then drilled a run-scoring single, as the Red Hawks used a five-run rally to take an 11-7 advantage.

"That's exactly how it is with aluminum," said sophomore shortstop BRIAN ELLERSON, who went 2-for-4 and also posted his second save of the season. "You go up there with the most confidence in the world." Last year, you had to hit it perfect to get a hit."

'It's different no doubt about it," Schoenig said. "It gives everybody the opportunity to be in the game."

Cortland (7-3) made things interesting, though, when third baseman P.J. Hermance (3-for-4, four RBI) laced a sinking liner – one that would not have been a threat if struck with a wood bat – to pull the Red Dragons within 11-9. Against four Red Hawks hurlers, they banged out 13 hits of their own.

However, Gallagher (1-2) – who earned his first win of 2000 despite allowing two runs in 1 2/3 innings – kept the opposition in check until Ellerson entered the game with one out in the ninth. Ellerson is a rarity going from shortstop to stopper without much time to warm up. Yet, with the tying run at the plate for two consecutive at-bats, he set down the Red Dragons' last two hitters to lock up the win.