Little Falls, NJ - Junior
BRIAN SHEEKEY (Palm Coast, FL/Father Lopez) belted a first pitch, two out grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Montclair State their fourth straight conference victory as they defeated Kean University 7-6 Friday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium.
Ryan Flannery (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) was 3-for-4 for the Cougars (22-7, 10-2 NJAC) who had ten hits in today's contest. Junior PJ Baccarella (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) finished 2-for-5 with 2 RBI for the Red Hawks (12-12-1, 7-4 NJAC) who left 12 runners aboard.
Montclair entered the eighth inning trailing 6-3. Pinch-hitter
ALEX THOMPSON (Whippany, NJ/Whippany) and sophomore
ETHAN BOYD (Perth Amboy, NJ/Perth Amboy) led off the inning with back-to-back singles. After a fly-ball out,
BRIAN BUTLER (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo Regional) then grounded into a fielder's choice. With two outs and runners on the corners, Kean elected to intentionally walk senior
JOE GIACOMIAZZIO (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) to load the bases for Sheekey. After a pitching change, Sheekey then lofted his first pitch over the left field wall for his first grand slam of the year and a 7-6 Red Hawk advantage.
The Cougars had plated two runs in their half of the eighth to widen their lead from 4-3 to 6-3. Catcher Ryan Stanek (Beach Haven, NJ/New Providence) had an RBI groundout while pinch-hitter Joe Cornachia (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) lined a two out RBI single.
Southpaw
JEFF GOGAL (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) picked up his second complete game victory of the week. Gogal (5-1) allowed six runs, three earned, and 10 hits. He also fanned eight and walked just one. Suffering the loss for the Cougars was Keith Barber (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan). Barber (4-2) threw 2/3 inning of relief allowing the go-ahead run on two hits. Not to be lost in today's action for Kean is the performance of starter Steve Bucchignano (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield). Bucchignano tossed seven innings allowing three runs and nine hits. He struck out 12 and walked four.
Offensively for Kean Matt Giannacio (Hamilton, NJ/Hamilton West), Cornachia and Stanek each had an RBI. For the Red Hawks, Boyd finished 3-for-5 with a double while teammates Butler and Giacomiazzio had two hits apiece.
