Little Falls, NJ - Sophomore pitcher
BRIAN ROCCO picked up the win in his first appearance of the season as Montclair State used a seven-run fourth inning to top No. 25 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 10-6, today in the Battle of the Red Hawks at Yogi Berra Stadium. MSU improved to 6-7 overall, ending a two-game winless string, while RPI fell to 9-5 on the year.
Rocco went 3.1 innings after relieving junior starter
JUSTIN LORENTZEN and sophomore
RAY ANDERSON after 3.2 innings, allowing just three hits and an earned run before
JAY COOK tossed two innings of scoreless ball to end the game.
Lorentzen went 2.2 innings with three hits and two runs against while striking out two RPI hitters, while Anderson was tagged for three runs in one inning despite surrendering just one hit. Cook finished with two strikeouts and a walk against three hits while not allowing any runs, getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth on a game-ending strikeout.
Freshman SS
KEVIN CUOZZI went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI for Montclair State, which also got three RBIs from junior LF
BRIAN BUTLER and saw junior OF
MIKE HALLIGAN go 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Junior2B
MARC DECASTRO finished2-for-3 with a run for Montclair, while freshman hitter
MICHAEL NUNES went 2-for-2 with a run scored and another batted in.
Freshman pitcher Tim Klein took the loss for Rensselaer, allowing eight hits and six earned runs in 3.2 innings while striking out four MSU batters. Sophomore SS Adam Lasek finished 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI for RPI,which held leads of 2-0 and 5-2 before Montclair State had its seven-runout burst on eight hits in the fourth frame.
Lasek opened the scoring in the third inning when he singled, took second on a wild pitch, and then scored on consecutive Rensselaer singles.
MSU hosts Ramapo College tomorrow at3:30 p.m. in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest, while RPI visits SUNY New Paltz. Montclair is 1-1 in NJAC play so far this spring, besting Rutgers-Newark while falling to Kean University.
