Little Falls, NJ (04/24/04) - Montclair State University and Rowan University split a New Jersey Athletic Conference softball doubleheader this afternoon at the MSU Softball Stadium, with Montclair winning the opener, 3-2, and Rowan claming the nightcap, 2-1, to snap a three-game losing streak while ending MSU's 11-game winning string.
MSU is now 27-7 overall and 12-6 in the NJAC, while Rowan goes to 28-8 on the year and 13-5 in the conference, finishing one game ahead of MSU for second place as the Red Hawks go 12-6 in conference games for the fourth straight season.
Both teams clinched berths and will face each other in the 2004 NJAC Tournament, which begins on Thursday, April 29, at top-seeded Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ. Ramapo and fourth-seeded Rutgers-Camden, who split a doubleheader today, will face each other in the opening round of the NJACs.
Today's MSU-Rowan opener was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when Montclair State junior third base
KARI MCDONNELL (Wrightstown, NJ) homered off the top of the scoreboard in left field for the Red Hawks' first hit and the first run of the afternoon, plus McDonnell's team-leading ninth homer of the year and 29th of her career.
The visiting Profs singled and used a sacrifice to get a runner on second in the top of the fourth, but then flew out twice to center to end the inning. MSU then made it 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth with two outs when senior shortstop
DIANA AUTERI (Lyndhurst, NJ) turned on a 1-0 pitch and sent it over the left field wall for her fourth homer this spring and the ninth of her career. Rowan would tie the game in the top of the sixth when sophomore leadoff hitter Danielle Schweers (S. Plainfield, NJ) singled, took second on a sacrifice and third on a wild pitch, and came home on a homer to left by junior center fielder Nicole Panikiewsky (Carteret, NJ), her fourth of the year and the Profs' fourth.
The host Red Hawks would then plate the winning run in the bottom of the sixth, starting when senior first base
DANA SPRAGUE (N. Arlington, NJ) walked and freshman Crystal Dahlhaus (Parsippany, NJ) came in as a pinch-runner. Dahlhaus took second on a sacrifice, and then scored on a double off the left wall by senior right fielder
ALLISON KREISS (Lakewood, NJ).
Rowan sophomore pitcher Colleen Oswald (Turnersville, NJ) took the loss despite striking out seven MSU batters to fall to 14-5, while Montclair senior pitcher
CRYSTAL SWEENEY (Edison, NJ) improved to 15-4 with her fifth straight victory, fanning four Rowan hitters.
MSU went up, 1-0, in the first inning of the rematch as senor pitcher
ATHANASIA TOTARO (Roseland, NJ) doubled to left-center and came home on Sprague's single up the middle. Rowan would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth as Panikiewsky walked, stole second, went to third on a single by junior pitcher Sara Dickey (Skippack, PA), and scored on a sacrifice bunt by senior first base Crystal Barbour (Erial, NJ).
The Profs took their first and only lead of the day in the bottom of the sixth, as freshman second base Jamie Assini (Deptford, NJ) led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored on a double to left by Schweers to provide the winning run. Totaro lasted five innings, surrendering four hits and two runs while striking out two and walking two in falling to 11-3. Dickey notched the win, improving to 14-2 while fanning three and walking none.
MSU now visits Scranton (PA) for a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday, April 27, starting at 3:00 p.m. Rowan will be off until facing MSU on Thursday in the first round of the NJACs at 3:30 p.m. at Ramapo.
