Little Falls, NJ – Senior righthander MICHAEL STREAMAN (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) pitched 7 1/3 strong innings and senior first baseman JASON LOPEZ (West New York, NJ / Memorial) and freshman third baseman ZACHARY BROWN (Green Village, NJ / Morristown) each picked up two-out RBI in the sixth as second-seeded Montclair State knocked off No. 5 seed Ramapo College, 3-1 in the opening round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament at Yogi Berra Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior lefthander MICHAEL VITALE (Bayonne, NJ / Bayonne) recorded the final five outs for his first save of the season as the Red Hawks improved to 23-13 on the season with their sixth straight victory. MSU will face William Paterson or TCNJ in the next round of the tournament on Thursday, April 30 at Yogi Berra Stadium beginning at 3:30 pm.

Freshman Dan Mauriello (Monroe, NY / Monroe Woodbury) had two hits and drove in the lone run for Ramapo (19-17), which will face sixth-seeded Rowan University at Jeff Maund Field in Mahwah, NJ on Thursday also at 3:30 in an elimination contest.

Streaman and Roadrunner starter Mike Murano (Brick, NJ / Brick) were locked in a tight pitcher's duel from the start as each put up zeroes in through the first three innings.  Ramapo would crack the scoreboard in the fourth as JoeyCacchiola (Union, NJ / Union) cracked a leadoff triple off the right field wall. Mauriello then bounced a ball through the right side for a single giving the Roadrunners a 1-0 lead. Ramapo would get the next runner on, but Streaman made a good defensive play off the mound to get the lead runner at third and two fly outs as MSU came to bat down a run.

Montclair responded in its half as SCOTT EVANGELIST (Northfield, NJ / Holy Spirit) singled up the middle to lead off the frame – Montclair's first of the game. Mike Boggi (Towaco, NJ / Montville) followed with a double to put runners at second and third. ED KLOEPPING (Pennsville, NJ / Pennsville) walked to load the bases however Morano struck out the next hitter for the first out. Freshman leftfielder MICKEY MCGRAW (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) then ripped a grounder in the hole at first base that appeared headed for a base hit. First baseman Pete Sita (Bayonne, NJ / Hudson Catholic) made a diving stop and flipped to Murano for the out as Evangelist scored knotting the game at 1-1. Murano then induced a fly out to end the threat.

The Red Hawks would get the winning runs in the sixth. Kloepping led off with a base hit center and a fielder's choice by KEVIN BOND (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) left MSU with a runner at first and one out. After the second out, Bond stole second which proved to be big as Lopez then smacked a pitch back through the middle for an RBI single giving MSU a 2-1 advantage. Brown followed with a double to deep center field as MSU expanded its lead to two runs.

Streaman would record the next four outs into the eight before giving way to Vitale, who walked the first hitter he face  but got a double play to end the inning. The lefty then set the Roadrunners down in order in the ninth to record the save.

Streaman improved to 6-0 on the year as he allowed four hits and the one run. He struck out three and walked one. Murano suffered the tough loss to fall to 2-2. He went 5 2/3 innings giving up three runs and five hits, striking out three and walking three.

Cacchiola and Mauriello accounted for all of Ramapo's hits as they each went 2-for-4.