Little Falls, NJ – The Montclair State baseball team finished off the best conference season in program history as the No. 2 Red Hawks swept Richard Stockton in a doubleheader at Yogi Berra Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The Red Hawks (31-3-1), who extended their winning streak to 18 games, knocked off the Ospreys, 9-8 in the opener and 9-4 in the nightcap to finish 17-1 overall in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. MSU will be the No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament which begins on Friday, May 12 at Yogi Berra Stadium.

In the opener, the Red Hawks squandered an 8-3 lead in the ninth inning as the Ospreys (12-22-2, 7-11 NJAC) scored five times to tie the game. In the bottom of the inning, FRANK LONGO led off with single and BRIAN ELLERSON followed with a base hit. GEORGE BECKER sacrificed both runners over. Stockton intentionally walked GARY BRACHT to load the bases, however reliever Frank Primicile walked ADAM CERMINARO forcing home the winning run.

Stockton took a 2-0 lead in the second before Montclair answered with eight straight run. MARC HOUSER got the Red Hawks on the board with an RBI single in the second  with CHRIS BARAN tying the game in the third with a run-scoring triple. CRAIG CONWAY homered in the inning to give MSU the lead and the Red Hawks extended that to 8-2 in the fifth with three runs. FRANK FRANCIA and JEFF SCHRIBER each doubled in a run with the latter scoring on an error.

Sophomore right hander KEVIN RAKOWSKI-KUHLMAN, who recorded the final out in the ninth, got the victory, his second against no losses. Conway finished 3-for-5 while Longo, Ellerson and Francia (two RBI) posted two hits each.

Senior right hander GREG BELSON (9-0) earned his ninth win of the season in the nightcap as he tossed the first six innings. Belson allowed three first-inning runs and gave up four total along with six hits, striking out five. Rakowski-Kuhlman came back to pitch two scoreless innings with STEVE TRONGONE closing out the game in the ninth.

After the Ospreys grabbed the early three-run lead, Montclair State climbed back with a pair of runs in the first. Longo singled home CHRIS BARAN for the first run with Ellerson lofting a sacrifice fly cutting the deficit to 3-2.

Baran tied the game in the fourth with a sacrifice fly, however Stockton moved back on top in the fifth on a Bobby Arnesen RBI single. MSU answered with four runs in its half. Ellerson brought in the first run with a triple and FRANK FRANCIA gave Montclair the lead with a run-scoring single. DAVE WURST collected an RBI single before Conway's RBI double gave the Red Hawks a 7-4 advantage.

MSU tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Francia plated one with a sacrifice fly with Ellerson scoring on an error for the final run.

Wurst finished 4-for-5 at the plate as did Longo. Conway had three hits with Baran, Ellerson, Francia and JEFF SCHRIBER posting two each.

Montclair State continues is late-season stretch of games on Thursday, May 4 hosting Division II Millersville University at 7:00 pm.