Little Falls, NJ – Junior righthander JAIRO MENDEZ (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) pitched a complete-game five-hitter while senior leftfielder JEFF MILLER (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) and junior rightfielder SCOTT EVANGELIST (Northfield, NJ/Holy Spirit) each drove in two runs as third-seeded Montclair State knocked off No. 4 seed Ramapo College, 7-1 in the opening round of the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament at Yogi Berra Stadium on Thursday afternoon.

Junior third baseman Rob Clark (Livingston, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) was 1-for-3 with two runs scored as the Red Hawks (21-16) now advance into Saturday's action against No. 2 seed and two-time defending conference champion The College of New Jersey at 6:00 pm at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark , NJ . The game will be the third of three contests on Saturday as the remainder of the tournament now shifts to Newark for games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The winner of the NJAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.

Ryan Paxton (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) had a solo home run for the 24 th-ranked Roadrunners (29-12), who will face top-seeded Kean University in the second game of the day at 2:00 pm.

Mendez improved to 4-3 on the season as he faced six batters over the minimum in his 95-pitch complete-game effort. Mendez struck out three and did not walk a batter, retiring the first 13 hitters he faced before allowing a one-out single to Joey Cacchiola ( Union , NJ / Union ) in the fifth inning.

Montclair State scratched out a run in the fourth inning. Clark reached on an error with two outs and moved to second on a single by LOU POLITAN ( Livingston , NJ /Livingston).
KEVIN CUOZZI ( Langhorne , PA /Neshaminy) then hit a bouncing ball up the middle that was misplayed loading the bases and Evangelist lined a single to shortstop to score Clark with the game's first run.

The Red Hawks would add to the lead in the sixth inning with six runs. Clark started the rally with a double down the left field line and he took third on an error. Politan would walk and steal second before Cuozzi blooped a single down the right field line to score Clark and give the Red Hawks a 2-0 advantage. Evangelist added an RBI single and MICHAEL NUNES ( Hazlet , NJ / Raritan ) executed a squeeze to bring home Cuozzi as Montclair widened its lead to 4-0. Miller would single home two runs and ROB BOWNESS (Sparta, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) capped the inning with an RBI single as Montclair built a seven-run cushion.

Paxton finally got the Roadrunners on the board as he connected for his second home run of the year to lead off the seventh inning and Ramapo nearly added more a it loaded the bases with one out. But Mendez got out the inning by getting a line out and fly out. Mendez then set down the side in order in the eighth and ninth as he retired the final eight hitters. Tim Seiden (West Milford, NJ/West Milford) took the loss. Seiden allowed five runs (four earned) and seven hits in five innings.

Miller was 2-for-5 for MSU while Evangelist was 2-for-4. Cacchiola and Paxton each finished 2-for-4 for Ramapo.