Little Falls, NJ - Senior lefthander MICHAEL VITALE (Bayonne, NJ / Bayonne) pitched six strong innings and combined with three relievers on a one-hitter as Montclair State battled past 10th-ranked Rensselaer, 9-1 at Yogi Berra Stadium on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.

Junior centerfielder MICHAEL BOGGI (Towaco, NJ / Montville) was 2-for-4 and drove in two runs for Montclair State, which improved to 13-11 on the year in winning the first portion of the home-and-home series between the teams. The back end of the series is set for Robison Field in Troy, NY on Wednesday, April 15.

The loss was just the second in the last 22 games for Rensselaer, which fell to 21-6 on the season. RPI was ranked No. 10 in the latest ABCA Division III Poll and 23rd in the D3Baseball.com Top 25.

Senior centerfielder Sean Wilkes (Troy, NY / Catholic Central) got things started off well for RPI as he lined an 0-2 double down right field line to start the game. But that turned out to be the only hit that Rensselaer would muster the rest of the way as Vitale got out of the inning on a pair of fly balls and a strikeout retiring 10 straight into the fourth inning before he walked the first of four batters in the game. Vitale (3-2) struck out four and walked four, running into trouble in the sixth inning when RPI scored its only run.

Three straight one-out walks loaded the bases before Mike Cieszko (Stevenson Ranch, CA / William S. Hart) lofted a sacrifice fly that scored the lone RPI run. Freshman righthander GIOVANNI CARABALLO (Elizabeth, NJ / Elizabeth), senior lefthander NICK RECCHIA (Randolph, NJ / Randolph) and sophomore KEVIN WIEME (Bayville, NJ / Paramus Catholic) each tossed a scoreless inning to complete the game for Montclair.

Meanwhile MSU would collect all of their runs between the second and sixth innings as Montclair scored twice in the second, third, fourth and sixth innings. In the second, JASON LOPEZ (West New York, NJ / Memorial) drew and one-out walk and went to second as Zach Brown (Green Village, NJ / Morristown) singled through the left side. Tim Swift (Tenafly, NJ / Tenafly) delivered an RBI single for a 1-0 MSU lead. JAY BIONDE (Pompton Plains, NJ / Pequannock) accounted for the second run with a ground out.

The following inning, Montclair extended the lead to 4-0. KEVIN BOND (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) doubled to start the inning, went to third on a ground out and scored as Boggi collected an infield single. Boggi would then steal second and came home on MIKE ERCOLANO's (Vernon, NJ / Vernon) single to right field.  MSU plated two more runs in the fourth as RPI committed an error with two outs. Brown accounted for the seventh run in the fifth as he tripled and scored on a wild pitch.  

After RPI scored its run in the top of the sixth, Montclair tacked on two in the bottom of the frame for the final margin. Boggi drove in the first with a triple down the right field line and scored on a wild pitch.

Brown finished 2-for-3 for Montclair State, which had 11 hits in the game.
                
Sophomore Dan Carey (Troy, NY / Lansingburgh) took the loss as he allowed four runs (three earned) and five hits in 2.1 innings. Carey, who left the game in the third after being hit in the leg on Boggi's single, is 0-1.