Union, NJ – Sophomore first baseman LOU POLITAN homered and righthander JAY COOK pitched into the seventh inning as Montclair State knocked off Kean University, 6-2 in its NJAC opener a Jim Hynes Stadium on Thursday.

Third baseman DANNY RODRIGUEZ had two hits as the Red Hawks won their second straight, squaring their record at 6-6 overall. Joe D'Andrea had three hits for the Cougars (14-6, 0-1 NJAC).

Politan gave Montclair a 1-0 lead in the third as he cracked a solo shot against Kean starter Joe Augustine. The Red Hawks would extend the lead to 5-0 in the sixth taking advantage of two Cougar errors. BRIAN BUTLER reached on one to open the inning and later scored on a MARC DECASTRO single down the left field line. SCOTT EVANGELIST bounced a ground with two out that was thrown away allowing DeCastro and Politan to score. Rodriguez came home on a wild pitch for the final run.

Cook kept Kean off the scoreboard until the sixth when Mike Shymanski singled with two outs scoring D'Andrea. MSU would get that run back as the Cougars committed their third error for a 6-1 advantage.

Kean threatened in the seventh, loading the bases with one out. However, reliever ENRIQUE GOMEZ came in and induced a double-play to end the threat.

Perry Schatzow cut the lead to 6-2 in the eighth with a base hit, however that was as close as the hosts would get as Will Traverso tossed a scoreless ninth to close out the game.

Cook (1-0) got his first win of the season, scattering eight hits, striking out three and walking one. Augustine took the loss as he went seven innings giving up seven hits and just one earned run. Augustine fanned three and walked four.

The Red Hawks are back in action on Friday, March 31 hosting Ramapo College at Yogi Berra Stadium with first pitch slated for 3:30 pm.