Fort Myers, FL (3/10/07) – Junior third baseman
JACKIE FERRANTI (Bergenfield, NJ / Bergenfield) homered in each game while sophomore
KELLY KARP (Edison, NJ/Edison) belted a grand slam in the season-opener as Montclair State captured its first two games at the Gene Cusic Classic on Saturday. The Red Hawks downed Dubuque (IA), 7-1 before coming back to defeat Framingham State (MA), 8-4.
In the opening contest with Dubuque, the Red Hawks scored all four runs on one swing of the bat from Karp, who connected for a grand slam. Ferranti and
JENNIFER JIMENEZ (Linden, NJ/Linden) singled with one out and
MEGAN TANTUM (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) reached on an error to load the bases before Karp registered her first career round-tripper and a 4-0 Montclair lead.
Tantum added an RBI double in the third to extend the lead to 5-1 and after Dubuque got a run back in the bottom of third, Ferranti blasted a two-run shot in the fifth for the final Montclair State runs.
Junior righthander
CAROLYN MCCREA (Wharton, NJ/Jefferson) allowed a run and seven hits as she picked up the win. McCrea struck out seven and walked one.
Ferranti finished with two hits for MSU.
In the second game with Framingham State, Ferranti connected on her second home run of the day - a two-run shot as MSU led 2-0 after the first.
The Red Hawks plated four more runs in the second.
MEGAN DURKIN (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) walked and moved to third on a single before scoring on a ground out by Ferranti. Jimenez would add an RBI single to make the score 4-1 and Karp tripled in two more as Montclair built a 6-0 cushion.
CHERYL BODAK (South River, NJ/South River) had a solo homer in the third as MSU led and Jimenez accounted for the final MSU run on an RBI ground out in the sixth.
Framingham pulled within 8-4 in the seventh as it plated three runs, but McCrea came on to strike out the final two batters to earn a save.
DANA WARNOCK (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) recorded the victory as she allowed one run on five hits. The righthander struck out three and walked one.
Shockley finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored while Ferranti and Karp each had two hits for the Red Hawks, who collected 12 in the game.
The Red Hawks continue their Gene Cusic Classic schedule on Sunday, March 11 as they face St. Mary's (IN) at 5:00 pm and Wilmington (OH) at 7:00 pm.