Salisbury, MD -- The Montclair State baseball team belted three home runs as the Red Hawks held off a late rally to defeat Salisbury University, 7-5 in the Red Hawks' season-opener on Saturday afternoon.

Junior rightfielder Brian Skeekey (Palm Coast, FL/Father Lopez), sophomore centerfielder ETHAN BOYD (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) and sophomore MATT BENEDETTI (Summit, NJ/Summit) each used the longball as MSU avenged a 6-1 loss to the Sea Gulls last season.

Sheekey gave the Red Hawks a 2-0 advantage when he lofted a solo shot in the fourth inning. Boyd then followed an inning later with a two run blast of his own as Montclair State extended their lead to 4-1. Later in the game in the top of the seventh, pinch-hitting Benedetti sent a two run shot over the fence for a 6-1 Red Hawk lead. Montclair then held off a late ninth inning rally by the Sea Gulls who tacked on three runs, a solo homerun and a one out, two RBI single to retain the 7-5 victory.

Junior lefthander JEFF GOGAL (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) pitched seven solid innings to earn his first victory of the 2003 season. Gogal, the only returning pitcher for the Red Hawks, allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. He also walked only one and fanned 12 in the contest as he defeated the Sea Gulls for the second time in his career. Gogal pitched a complete-game 1-0 shutout against Salisbury as a freshman during the 2001 NCAA Division III World Series.

Sheekey finished 2-5 with one run scored and one RBI while Boyd was 2-5 with two RBI's and onerun scored on the afternoon. Sophomore leftfielder TOMMY WARTH (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) was 2-3 in today's action.