Appleton, WI - When Montclair State faced Phil Benante earlier this season, the Red Hawks pushed him around.

The Cortland State starting pitcher was rocked for four runs, all earned, n four hits and was pulled before recording an out. Montclair State won that game 11-9.

Friday's game was another story, however, as the Red Hawks were baffled by Benante, getting just six singled in a 5-1 loss in the first round of the Division III College World Series.

The Red Hawks (37-7-1) play today at 11 a.m. against Emory, Ga. (33-15), which lost to St. Thomas (MN), 8-3. Allegheny topped Chapman, 4-2, in the third game of the day.

Montclair State's loss could have been much worse. The Red Dragons stranded 14 runners, including the bases loaded twice.

"I thought Benante pitched very well," Montclair State coach Norm Schoenig said. "I thought their team did a tremendous job. They put a great deal of pressure on us inning after inning, and teyr certainly deserved to win."

Montclair State's potent offense, which averaged 10.4 runs per game, scored its second fewest number of runs this season. Early in the year, it was shut out by Pomna-Pitzer during the Red Hawks' California trip.

The Red Hawk's only run cam in the first inning after DAVE WURST his a leadoff single.

Two batters later, CRAIG CONWAY followed with a grounder that forced the second baseman into short right field, allowing Wurst to score from second, barely beating the tag. It was Conway's team-leading 66th RBI of the season.

But the Red Hawks failed to follow that up, getting only two hits after the second inning.

"[Benante] hit his spots well," said Conway, a .397 hitter who went 1-for-4. "I'm not going to take anything away from him. He pitched very well."

Benante learned he would be the starter at 1:30 a.m. Friday, but that didn't matter. He still put the Red Hawks' bats to sleep.

"I knew I was a btter pitcher today than I was back then," Benante said. But I saw this as my chance to make up for it."

Cortland state scored twice in the third and three times in the ninth to seal the victory.

Montclair State starting pitcher Greg Belson wishes he could have another shot.

Belson, who was named one of four Division III All-American pitchers Thursday, struggled with his control. The senior walked eight - three intentionally - gave up eight hits and struck out five in eight innings to fall to 10-2.

"I struggled a little bit," said Belson, who threw 142 pitches. "It was a high number of walks for me. But we'll come back. We have no choice."

"When asked about coming out of the loser's bracket, Schoenig said "It's a tough road to hoe, butyou can't think about it that way. We'll come back. It's goo that we play (this morning) so we can get that bad taste out of our mouth early."