Montclair, NJ (3/29/08) – Junior shortstop JENNIFER JIMENEZ (Linden, NJ / Linden) homered and drove in a combined five runs in the two games at 18 th-ranked Montclair State opened up New Jersey Athletic Conference play with a doubleheader sweep of Richard Stockton on Saturday at the MSU Softball Stadium.

Senior righthander CAROLYN MCCREA ( Wharton, NJ / Jefferson) tossed a two-hitter in the opener as MSU knocked off the Ospreys, 5-1. Junior KELLY KARP ( Edison, NJ / Edison) belted a two-run homer and added four RBI as the Red Hawks (14-2, 2-0 NJAC) completed the sweep with a 13-3 triumph.

In the first game, Montclair State put a run up on the board in the second inning as Karp drew a leadoff walk and scored from second base on an error for a 1-0 lead. A second error by Stockton would set help MSU increase the lead the following inning as Jimenez got aboard on an error to start the inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Stockton would get a run back in the top of the fourth as Samantha Horner ( Newfield, NJ / Buena) smacked a solo shot, her third of the year.

Montclair would answer right back in the bottom half of the inning on one swing of the bat. Freshman LESLIE GONZALEZ ( North Bergen, NJ / North Bergen) singled with one out and MAUREEN SHOCKLEY (Magnolia, NJ / Triton) drew a two-out walk. Jimenez then connected on her third round-tripper of the season of the season to put the Red Hawks in front, 5-1.

McCrea would make the lead hold up as she struck out six and walked one in improving to 7-2. Kaitlin Corica ( Iselin, NJ/John F. Kennedey) took the loss to fall to 6-2. She allowed just four hits, but walked eight batter while fanning three.

The second game saw MSU waste little time in putting runs on the board as Montclair plate three runs. Jimenez had an RBI single and MEGAN DURKIN ( West Orange, NJ / West Orange) collected an RBI double before Karp's run-scoring single made it 3-0. Following a Stockton run in the bottom of the first, Montclair scored five times to put its lead to 8-1. Shockley had an RBI single and KACIE NEUROUTER ( Wayne, NJ / Wayne Valley) stroked a two-run single for a 6-1 advantage. Karp drove in her second run with a base hit and AMANDA LIVSEY (Congers, NY / Congers) capped the inning with an RBI single.

Two runs by the Ospreys trimmed the lead to 8-3, however, MSU put the game away with another five-run inning in the third. Jimenez had an RBI single and Durkin followed with a two-run double before Karp finished off the offensive support for MSU with a two-run homer, her first of the season.

Karp would get the victory as she moved to 6-0 on the year. Karp struck out six and walked four through the first four innings before giving way to sophomore ELIA PERSICO (Marlton, NJ / Cherokee), who tossed a scoreless final inning.

Jimenez, Durkin and Karp each had three hits as MSU collected 16 in the game. Shockley was 2-for-4 for the Red Hawks.

The Red Hawks return to action with another NJAC doubleheader on Tuesday, April 1 at Rutgers-Newark beginning at 3:00 pm.