Little Falls, NJ – A combination of doubt and disbelief crept into SCOTT ALLAN yesterday as he loosened up in the bullpen. In just a few minutes, he would step on to the mount to start the biggest baseball game of the season – and it seemed that each pitch he threw was as bad as the last.

"I felt confident before the game, but while I was warming up in the bullpen, I threw lousy," the Montclair State junior lefty said. "I had nothing. (Pitching) coach (Dennis) Morgan asked me if we needed to get someone else ready. I told him I would try but I wasn't sure."

Allan needed only six pitches to get out of the first inning and was masterful throughout allowing eight hits and one earned run and striking out six in leading Montclair State to a 5-3 victory over The College of New Jersey in the championship game of the NCAA Division 3 Mid-Atlantic Regional at Yogi Berra Stadium.

Montclair State (37-6-1) advances to the Division 3 College World Series in Appleton, Wis., where it will face Cortland State in the first round Friday at 1:15 p.m.

TCNJ (32-7-1) fell one victory short of the World Series for the third straight year.

CHRIS BARAN provided some late-inning heroics to secure Montclair State's second World Series trip in three years. Baran hit an RBI single in the seventh to snap a 3-3 tie and GEORGE GALLAGHER (3-for-4, two RBI) followed with a single to drive in the final run.

Montclair State knocked off New Jersey Athletic Conference for Rowan, 12-6, in the morning to move into the championship game against top-seeded TCNJ and its ace pitcher, Chris Buglovsky.

Montclair coach Norm Schoenig had no idea that Allan, a Milford native and former All-Stater from Immaculata, was struggling in warmups.

"Maybe it was best that I didn't know," said Schoenig, who will make his fifth trip to the World Series in 13 years at Montclair State. "Scottie's a warrior, a competitor and a winner. He believes he can get it done, regardless of the situation."

After Allan got out of the first, Montclair State scored three runs in the home first inning, with Gallagher delivering an RBI single, BRIAN ELLERSON driving in a run on an infield out and the third run scoring on an error.
TCNJ scored single runs in the second and third innings to pull within 3-2, then tied the game in the seventh when J.J. Singer raced home on a wild pitch with two out.

"We felt down for a second when they tied the game," Gallagher said. "But we all felt like we could score more runs."

Baran and Gallagher took advantage of Buglovsky's low-and-away pitches to knock in the final runs.

"There's such a good team that if you make a mistake, they're going to capitalize on it," said Buglovsky (9-3), who surrendered only six hit and three earned runs in seven innings. "They made adjustments and capitalize on everything."

TCNJ coach Rich Dell was disappointed that his team again fell one victory short of the World Series.

"It's a shame that we lost one game in a double-elimination tournament in each of the last two years and have to drive home," Dell said. "It's no one's fault, but it's a shame."

Last year, William Paterson advanced due to a rainout in the championship round. This year's tournament was switched to a single-elimination format because of extensive rain over the weekend.

"It's easier to take that we lost it on the field," said Buglovsky, who twice bowed to Montclair State this season. " We just got beat."

Earlier in the day, Montclair State eliminated Rowan behind senior righty Greg Belson, who threw a staggering 165 pitches over eight innings, surrendering 14 hits and six earned runs to earn the victory.

"I tried to get through it," Belson (10-1) said. "And since, there's no tomorrow I was going to do whatever it took."

Montclair State used a seven-run fifth inning to take control of the game. DAVE WURST, who had three hits, capped the inning with a three-run homer, his first of the season. Third baseman CRAIG CONWAY also had three hits, giving him six hits and six RBI for the tournament.

Pat Vengenock had four hits and Tim Staszewski had three hits and two RBI for Rowan (31-11).

Rowan coach John Cole was not totally disappointed that his team's season ended with a single loss.

"If someone would have told me before the season that we would come down to the final day, needing two wins to go to the World Series, we would take it," Cole said. "I think we maximized what we had to get here. They kept coming after us offensively and we couldn't put the fire out."