Orlando, FL (3/15/08) – Senior centerfielder
MAUREEN SHOCKLEY (Magnolia, NJ / Triton) and sophomore second baseman
MEGAN DURKIN (West Orange, NJ / West Orange) each had three hits and two RBI in the second game as the Montclair State softball team opened its 2008 season with split of contests at the Rebel Spring Games on Saturday. The Red Hawks were blanked 4-0 by Simpson (IA) before coming back with a 12-7 win over Emerson College.
Senior third baseman
JACKIE FERRANTI ( Bergenfield, NJ / Bergenfield) added two RBI while junior
KELLY KARP ( Edison, NJ / Edison) collected three hits as MSU bounced from its first defeat.
Against Simpson, the Red Hawks were shutdown by righthander Calie Hohneke , who struck out seven and walked three. Freshman catcher Julie O'Neal drove in three runs for Simspon while Kelsie Host was 4-for-4 with three runs scored. The Storm put a run in the first inning and added two more in the sixth before tacking on another in the seventh inning.
In the contest versus Emerson, MSU found itself in a 3-0 hole after the first inning, but stormed back with three runs of its own in the second. Karp doubled to lead off the inning and Durkin slapped an RBI single to put Montclair on the board. Durkin would score on an error and freshman
LESLIE GONZALEZ ( North Bergen, NJ / North Bergen) stole home to tie the game at 3-3.
Emerson would retake the lead in the bottom of the second, but Montclair State answered back in the third as Karp tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI triple and Durkin added another run-scoring single to put the Red Hawk in front. MSU would extend the lead in the fifth with three runs. Ferranti doubled in a pair and Shockley followed with an RBI double as the MSU lead grew to 8-4.
Emerson pulled within 8-7 in the bottom of the sixth, however Montclair pulled away with a four-run seventh for the final margin. Shockley had an RBI single and
JENNIFER JIMENEZ ( Linden, NJ / Linden) collected an RBI double. Both would score on wild pitches to cap off Montclair State's scoring.
Karp picked up the win as she went the first five innings before giving way to
CAROLYN MCCREA (Wharton, NJ / Jefferson), who tossed two scoreless innings for her first save of the year.
The Red Hawks continue action at the Rebel Spring Games on Sunday with two more contests. MSU will face SUNY Geneseo in the morning before taking on 13 th-ranked Wisconsin-River Falls.
