Phoenix, AZ – Senior
ROB BOWNESS (Sparta, NJ / Seton Hall Prep) went 4-for-5, driving in three runs and scoring three times, but it wasn't enough as Montclair State suffered its fourth-straight one-run loss, falling to Wheaton (MA) College in the RussMatt Greater Phoenix Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
Senior
MICHAEL NUNES ( Hazlet, NJ / Raritan) belted a solo home run as the Red Hawks fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in their six-game Arizona trip.
MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as
STEPHEN PISCITELLO ( Hauppague, NY / Hauppague) brought home the first run with a sacrifice fly and
JEFF MILLER ( Wyckoff, NJ / Ramapo) delivered an RBI single. The Red Hawks extended the lead to 5-0 in the second as
ANDREW HIMMELFARB ( Nyack, NY / Nyack) walked and Nunes singled. Both would come around to score on Bowness' double to left-center and
ED KLOEPPING ( Pennsville, NJ / Pennsville) knocked in the final run with a base hit.
Wheaton would get a run back in the bottom of the second and moved to within 5-4 in the third as the Lyons scored three times. MSU would go back up 7-4 in the fifth on a two-run single by Rob Clark (Livingston, NJ / Seton Hall Prep), but Wheaton answered back with two in the bottom of the inning to keep the margin at a run.
After trading runs in the sixth, including Nunes' solo shot, MSU pushed its advantage to 10-7 in the seventh inning.
LOU POLITAN ( Livingston, NJ / Livingston) doubled home Miller and
KEVIN CUOZZI ( Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) added an RBI single. But Wheaton tied the game in at 10-10 in the bottom of the inning with Paul Malaguti providing the key hit, a two-run single.
MSU went back on top in the eighth on a run-scoring double by Miller, but the Lyons struck three times in its half to take a 13-11 lead. Montclair would threaten in the ninth as Himmelfarb walked with one out and scored as Bowness dropped in a double to make the score 13-12. But reliever Jared Barnes was able to get the final hitter out to preserve the game for Wheaton.
Nunes, Kloepping, Miller, Politan and Cuozzi each had two hits for Montclair State, which collected 15 in the game.
The Red Hawks will look to get back on the winning track as they face Suffolk on Sunday, March 16 at 3:00 pm EDT.
