Ferrum, VA – Catcher Brian Strong homered and drove in three runs as Ferrum College defeated Montclair State, 9-6 on Saturday at Panther Field.

Doug Heagen went eight solid innings as the Panthers scored five times in the latter innings to take the initial meeting between the two teams.

Senior catcher JEFF SCHRIBER belted a grand slam with CRAIG CONWAY adding a two-run shot for the Red Hawks (4-5), who concluded their spring trip at 2-4.

Ferrum took a 4-0 lead in the third inning snapping a scoreless contest. Dallas Gray singled home the first run with Strong blasting a three-run shot to right to account for the scoring.

MSU would tie the game in the sixth with a little help from the Panthers, who committed a two-out error to keep the inning going. Schriber took full advantage of that with his grand slam, tying the game at 4-4. Ferrum quickly answered in the bottom half, regaining the lead on a bases-loaded walk to K Taylor. An error by MSU allowed two more runs to come home giving the hosts a 7-4 lead.

Neil Zimmerman's RBI double in the eighth pushed the lead to four runs and a Travis Nowlin RBI on a sacrifice put Ferrum up 9-4.  

Conway closed the gap with a two-out, two-run homer but that would be as close as the Red Hawks would get.

Lefthander COREY HAMMAN (1-3) took the loss for MSU. DAVE WURST, FRANK LONGO and Conway each had two hits for the Red Hawks.

Montclair State is now off for the next week and heads back south next weekend for a two-game set with Bridgewater College on Saturday, March 17 and Sunday, March 18.