Mahwah, NJ (04/29/04) - Senior righthander CRYSTAL SWEENEY (Edison, NJ/Edison) tossed a one-hitter and ATHANASIA TOTARO (Roseland, NJ/West Essex) delivered the lone run with a double as third-seeded Montclair State edged second-seeded Rowan University, 1-0, in the opening round of the 2004 New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament at Ramapo College on Thursday afternoon.

DIANA AUTERI (Lyndhurst, NJ/St. Mary's) had three hits for the Red Hawks (29-8), who will face fourth-seeded Rutgers-Camden on Friday, April 30 at 1:30 pm. The Scarlet Raptors defeated top-seeded Ramapo, 4-1 in the other game on Thursday.

MSU swept a doubleheader with Rutgers-Camden back on April 17 winning 3-0 in eight innings and 2-0.

Sweeney (16-5) struck out seven and walked two as she defeated the Profs for the second time in five days. She allowed two runs and six hits in a 3-2 win over Rowan on April 24 at the MSU Softball Stadium.

Scoreless heading into the eighth, Auteri lined a double to deep left-centerfield off Sara Dickey (Skippack, PA/Perkiomen Valley) to open the inning. Totaro then stepped to the plate for what figured to be a sacrifice attempts. But instead of squaring, Totaro was swinging away and blasted a double to the wall in centerfield that scored Auteri with the game's lone run.

Sweeney preseved the lead as she retired the Profs, 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning for her sixth shutout of the season. Sweeney set down the final 20 hitters she faced after getting out of a minor jam in the second.

Crystal Barbour (Erial, NJ/Highland Regional) led off the second with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. Jenn Berenato (Williamstown, NJ/Buena Regional) then drew a walk to put runners at first and third. But catcher MEGAN TANTUM (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) threw out Berenato attempting to steal and Sweeney fanned the next hitter for the second out. Casey Bartlof (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) flew out to end the inning.

Dickey took the loss despite allowing six hits. She struck out three and walked two.

Auteri was 3-for-4 while Totaro collected two hits in three at-bats.