Little Falls, NJ - Senior lefty Brian Rickert (E. Greenbush, NY/Columbia) picked up his second and third saves of the season and drove in three in the opener as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute earned a doubleheader sweep of Montclair State 7-5 and 9-6 at Yogi Berra Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Rensselaer (9-6) pulled away from a 2-2 tie early in the opener plating three runs in the second. Mike Passante (Highland, NY/Highland) got things started with a one out double to right-centerfield. Ryan Meron (Plattsburgh, NY/Plattsburgh) then delivered what would be the winning run on an RBI single. Rickert closed out the scoring in that inning with a two out, two RBI single.

Montclair (6-6) rallied late pulling within two as PJ Baccarella (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) sacrificed home DANNY RODRIGUEZ (Monmouth, NJ/S. Brunswick) in the seventh and MIKE WEISS (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape Regional) scored on a groundout in the eighth. But that rally fell short as Rickert closed out ninth to earn his second save of the year.

Charles Yarnold (Budd Lake, NJ/Mount Olive) (2-0) picked up the win for R.P.I. in game one. Yarnold struck out eight and walk no one in his six innings of work. Yarnold also allowed just two runs on six hits. SHAWN ELLERSON (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) (0-2) suffered the loss for MSU. Ellerson allowed seven hits and six runs (five earned) in five innings.

In the nightcap, R.P.I. benefited from 14 walks as they came back from a 6-5 deficit by scoring four runs in the fifth enroute to a 9-6 victory in eight innings (shortened by darkness). After R.P.I. loaded the bases on three consecutive walks, Meron delivered a crucial single to drive home two and put the Red Hawks up for good.

JUSTIN LORENTZEN (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) (1-1) took the loss in relief for Montclair. Max Miller (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) earned the win also in relief for Rensselaer. Rickert tossed the final two innings to pick up his third save of the season. Rickert allowed no runs and no hits while also fanning three and walking just one.

Rodriguez finished 2-5 on the afternoon with four runs scored and two RBI and teammate Baccarella went 4-7 with three RBI for MSU.