Eau Claire, WI – The Montclair State softball team closed out one of the finest seasons in school history Sunday with a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division III Softball Championship after falling to Salisbury University, 3-1.
The Red Hawks, making their seventh overall appearance in the national finals and 21st overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament, finished the year at 46-5 setting a school record for victories. Montclair also captured the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament for the fourth time and claimed regional titles in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1987 and 1988 campaigns.
MSU, which is 90-14 over the last two seasons, also recorded the longest winning streak in Montclair State athletic history as it won 31 straight games to open the season. The Red Hawks also posted their fourth Top 5 finish at the NCAA Championship as it finished second in 1997 and had third-place showings in 1992 and 2012.
Looking to bounce back from its nine-inning loss to Tufts on Saturday evening, the Red Hawks traded zeros with the Sea Gulls (41-3) through the first two innings before Salisbury broke through with three runs in the top of the third inning.
Angelia McDowell singled in the infield and took second on a wild pitch before scoring on a single through the left side by Harley Hill. Three batters later after a sacrifice, intentional walk and ground out, Paige Knussman smacked a base hit through the hole on the right side plating two more runs giving the Sea Gulls a 3-0 advantage.
The Red Hawks would battle back in its half. Junior second baseman
Katie Muglia (South Plainfield, NJ, South Plainfield) lined a single to center field – MSU's first of the game – and went to second as the ball got by the centerfielder. Junior third baseman
Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ, Pascack Valley) walked to put runners on first and second. Junior
ALEX HILL (Parsippany, NJ, Parsippany Hills) then bounced a single bringing home Muglia to cut the deficit to 3-1.
But that would all MSU would get against Sea Gull righthander Rachel Johnson, who set down the next seven in a row before allowing a two-out single to
Tara Petrucelli (Nutley, NJ, Nutley) in the sixth inning. In the seventh, freshman
Dana Egan (Middletown, NJ, Middletown North) kept the Red Hawks' hopes alive with a two-out single but Johnson got a pop up in the infield to end the game.
Johnson (28-2) earned the victory as she struck out six and walked three in her four-hit performance.
ALEX HILL took the loss to finish her outstanding junior season at 38-5. Hill, who would be named to the All-Tournament Team, struck out four as she finished the year with 431, the third –highest season total in Division III history.
