Little Falls, NJ (05/15/05) – Montclair State University junior pitcher ATHANASIA TOTARO earned Most Valuable Player accolades for the second consecutive year as the second-seeded Red Hawks won their sixth straight Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III South Championship with a 4-2 victory today over top-seeded Westminster (PA) College at the MSU Softball Stadium. Montclair State, which has won 16 consecutive games in ECAC South play since 2001, closes out the 2005 campaign with a 28-9-1 record, while Westminster finishes at 29-10. Montclair also defeated Westminster, 9-8, last night for the 850th win in program history.

Totaro batted 1-for-3 and picked up the win today, tossing a five-hitter over seven innings with two runs allowed while striking out three batters. She finished the weekend batting 8-for-11 with four RBI while compiling a 3-0 pitching record with 13 strikeouts, and batted .402 this season with an 18-5 record.

MSU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning as freshman 1B JACKIE FERRANTI walked, took second base on a sacrifice by sophomore catcher MEGAN TANTUM and third base on a ground out by freshman LF CHERYL BODAK before scoring off an error. MSU made it 4-0 in the top of the fifth as senior CF JOELLE FATA walked and went to second on a wild pitch before taking third as Totaro reached on an error. Freshman pinch-runner ZAIRY RAMOS then stole second before senior 3B KARI MCDONNELL singled through the left side to score Fata, before Ferranti reached on a fielder's choice as McDonnell was thrown out at second and Ramos scored. Tantum then tripled to the wall in left to plate Ferranti to finish MSU's scoring, before freshman SS Maria Joseph drove in two runs with a two-out double to center field in the bottom of the fifth frame for Westminster's only runs. Junior hurler Katie Parfitt took the loss for Westminster, finishing at 6-2 after allowing three hits, two walks and one run in five innings.

Westminster advanced to the championship game with a 7-2 win over Hunter College this morning, as sophomore RF Kristen Zyskowski went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run and junior 3B Karisa Nilsen batted 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one batted in. Sophomore pitcher Jennifer Pancake improved to 22-4 this spring for the Titans, tossing an eight-hitter with three strikeouts, one walk and one earned run over seven innings. Sophomore catcher Tiffany Rock finished 2-for-3 for Hunter, and went 7-for-10 over the three games this weekend.