Ewing, NJ – Sophomore first baseman LOU POLITAN belted a three-run homer in the first inning of the opener as Montclair State split an NJAC doubleheader with third-ranked The College of New Jersey on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Hawks (14-10-2, 7-3 NJAC) won the first game 6-2 before the Lions (23-4, 7-4 NJAC) took the nightcap, 17-5.

In the opener, the Red Hawks jumped on the board right at the first batter as leadoff man Rob Clark launched a leadoff homer against TCNJ starter Brian Kraus, who beat the Red Hawks twice last season. After a ground out, BRIAN BUTLER doubled and scored on a two-out single by ROB BOWNESS. MICHAEL NUNES then drew a walk before Politan drilled a 1-1 pitch over the right field fence for his second home run and a 5-0 Montclair lead.

TCNJ would get a run back as Ryan Kropp hit a solo home run in the second, but Montclair State got the run back in the third as ANDREW VICARO connected for his fourth home run of the year giving MSU a 6-1 lead.

Starter NICK RECCHIA helped make the lead hold up as he pitched eight innings allowing five hits and two runs. Recchia, who at one point retired 13 straight batters, struck out five and walked three as he improved to 4-2 on the season. WILLIAM TRAVERSO closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning.

DANNY RODRIGUEZ had three hits for the Red Hawks while Butler collected two.

In the the nightcap, it was a reversal of the game a this the the Lions opened up the scoring with a run in the second and six in the third, including a three-run home run by Blake Bullis, who finished with five RBI in the game.

Bowness pu the Red Hawks on the board in the sixth inning with a solo home run, his fifth of the season. JAY COOK suffered his first loss of the season as he fell to 3-1.

MARC DECASTRO, MATT HARTWICK, CHARLES GAGLIO and THOMAS MEYER each had an RBI for MSU.

The Red Hawks return to action on Monday, April 17 as they travel back to Ramapo to face the Roadrunners in a makeup of their Friday rainout.