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Salem, VA - One of the finest softball seasons in Montclair State history came to an end on Monday as the Red Hawks fell to Linfield College 2-0.

MSU placed third in the NCAA Division III Championship, its third Top 3 finish in the national tournament as Montclair was the runner-up in 1997 in addition to finishing third in 1992. The appearance in the NCAAs was the sixth for the program and first since the aforementioned '97 campaigns.

Montclair State finished the year at 44-9, setting a school record for victories and the most amount of wins by any athletic team in a season surpassing the mark of 42 set by the 2000 national championship baseball sqaud.

After falling to Pacific Lutheran 2-1 in 12 innings on Sunday, the Red Hawks went back at it early Monday morning and matched the Wildcats (46-6) step for step through the first five innings.

In the top of the first, Linfield's Grace Middlestadt led off with a base hit and took second on a hustle play giving the Wildcats and early opportunity to score. However righthander Alex Hill (Parsippany, NJ, Parsippany Hills) got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts.

The Red Hawks then put a pair of threats together in the second and third innings. ALISHA CUMBERTON, who batted .500 for the tournament, walked to open the second and was sacrificed to second. But she would be stranded there as a strikeouts and ground out ended the inning. The following inning proved to Montclair's best opportunity against Linfield's Lauren Harvey.

Shannon Mozek (Wayne, NJ, Wayne Valley) singled with one out and Jamie Paulino (Linden, NJ, Linden) followed with a double putting runners at second and third. Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ, Pascack Valley) bounced a ball toward third and the Wildcats were able to get Mozek at the plate keeping the game scoreless. Hill then hit hard shot to center field as MSU failed to break the tie.

In the fifth, Linfield put the leadoff runner at second following a base hit and stolen base. Hill would get the next two outs and, after an infield single, induced a foul pop up as the contest was deadlocked through five innings.

Linfield would finally break through in the sixth. Middlestaft led off with a single through the right side and stole second. Following a lineout, Emilee Lepp line a single to right field that skipped past the fielder allowing both runners to score as Linfield grabbed a 2-0 lead.

Montclair would mount a final chance in the bottom of the inning. Cumberton singled with one out and Stephanie Szeliga (South Plainfield, NJ, South Plainfield) reached on a two-out error putting runners at second and third. Harvey quelled the threat with a ground out to end the inning and then set MSU down in order in the seventh to send Linfield into the championship round.

Hill took the loss to complete the year at 32-6. The All-American righthander struck out six and did not walk a batters in her final appearance of the year. Hill set new MSU season records for victories (32), shutouts (20) and strikeouts (338) while posting an ERA of 0.89 - sixth-best in school history.

Mozek had two of Montclair State's four hits in the game. Hill and Cumberton were named to the All-Tournament Team.