Little Falls, NJ (4/1/06) – Sophomore outfielder Christina DeCorso belted a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning as Kean University topped Montclair State, 2-0 to sweep a New Jersey Athletic Conference twinbill on Saturday afternoon at the MSU Softball Stadium. The Cougars won the first game, 2-1.

Kristen Hennings and Maryelise Gierke each threw well-pitched contests as the Cougars improved to 11-7 overall in capturing their NJAC opening game (2-0). Kean has also won four straight against the Red Hawks, who fell to 13-3, 0-2 in the NJAC.

In the second game, Hennings and CAROLYN MCCREA hooked up in a pitcher's duel matching zeros on the scoreboard. Hennings escaped two early jams. In the first, Montclair State loaded the bases as MAUREEN SHOCKLEY (Magnolia, NJ/Triton) and JENNIFER JIMENEZ each singled. JACKIE FERRANTI walked, however Hennings was able to strike out the next hitter and get a line out to end the threat. In the third, MSU put runners on first and second with one out, but again Hennings wiggled out of the trouble to keep the game scoreless.

Meanwhile, McCrea set down the first 15 hitters she faced before Vicky Lanza singled to open the sixth. The Cougars would only get one more hit in the game but it would be the most important. In the eighth-inning tiebreaker, Katy McManus began the inning at second, but was thrown out a third on a heads-up play by Jimenez, who blocked the bag perfectly on a fielder's choice hit by Kara Schultz. McCrea would get the next batter, but DeCorso launched her second homer of the season to give Kean the victory.

Hennings (3-3) struck out three and walked one. McCrea fell to 5-2 as she struck out four in 7 2/3 innings. Jimenez and Shockley each had two hits for Montclair State .

In the opener, the Cougars got a run in the first as Johanna Hedler doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third as Kelly Alexsandrich reached on an error on her sacrifice attempt. McManus then grounded to the right side that was misplayed for an error, however, Hedler scored with the run for an RBI.

Montclair State would get the run back in the second as KELLY KARP reached on an error and moved to second on a ground out. ATHANASIA TOTARO then looped a single to left-center scoring Karp.

Kean would get the decisive run in the sixth as Michelle Baiera doubled with one out. Jasmyne Vargas pinch ran and moved to third on a wild pitch before scoring as Gierke doubled to right-center field.

Gierke (6-2) picked up the victory as she allowed three hits in her complete-game start. She struck out three and walked three. Totaro suffered her first loss of the season. The senior righthander surrendered four hits, struck out eight and walked one as she fell to 7-1.

The Red Hawks return to action on Tuesday, April 4 as they host Ramapo College at the MSU Softball Stadium. First pitch of the NJAC twinbill is set for 3:00 pm. Kean is also at home hosting William Paterson on the same day.