Troy, NY – Junior leftfielder BRIAN BUTLER drove in three runs and five Montclair State pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout in the nightcap as the Red Hawks split a doubleheader with Rensselaer on Tuesday afternoon.

Montclair (10-15) dropped the opener 6-1 before salvaging the split with a 7-0 blanking of the Engineers (14-12).  MSU took 2-of-3 from RPI having also posted a 10-6 victory at Yogi Berra Stadium back on April 6.

The Red Hawks would get the only run it would eventually need in the top of the first inning. MICHAEL NUNES led off with a single and went to third on a one-out error. ED KLOEPPING followed with a fly ball to center scoring Nunes with the game's first run.

The game stood that way until the eighth when Montclair State tacked on to the lead with four times. MATT BENEDETTI had a sacrifice fly and MARC DECASTRO singled in a run before ROB BLACKBURN doubled home the final two for a 5-0 lead. Butler capped the scoring in the ninth with a two-run double scoring Greg D'Alessandro and ETHAN BOYD.

Meanwhile, the MSU pitching was solid allowing just three singles and a double with seven strikeouts. Junior righthander JAY COOK fanned five in the first three innings with MARTY CABALAR, MATT WISMER and RAY ANDERSON each getting five outs apiece. BRIAN ROCCO finished up MSU's first shutout of the season with a scoreless ninth.

In the opener, a DANNY RODRIGUEZ RBI ground out gave the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead in the first, but RPI took the lead for good in the second with three runs. The Engineers pushed the advantage to 6-1 in the fifth.
JAIRO MENDEZ took the loss for Montclair, which was held to just four hits.

MSU is back in action on Thursday, April 21 taking on local rival William Paterson at 3:30 pm in Wayne.