Softball | 3/10/2014 1:38:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Winter Haven, FL – Senior third baseman Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ, Pascack Valley) tied a single-game record with seven RBI in the first game while senior righthander Alex Hill (Parsippany, NJ, Parsippany Hills) fired a two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in the second game as second-ranked Montclair State upped its record to 4-0 with pair of shutout victories in the Rebel Spring Games on Monday.

The Red Hawks, who have posted shutouts in all four games thus far, blanked Muskingum University 10-0 early in the morning before winning an early-season showdown between Top 5 teams with a 3-0 triumph over fourth-ranked and 2013 NCAA runner-up Cortland.

Amato went 3-for-4 against the Muskies in the first game as she tied the single-game mark set by Pam Troyano in 1971 and equaled by Jackie Ferranti in 2006 versus New Jersey City.  Senior catcher Alisha Cumberton (Toms River, NJ, Toms River East) collected a pair of RBI for MSU, which exploded for nine runs in its last two at bats.

Amato gave the Red Hawks 1-0 lead in the third inning with an RBI single that score Tara Petrucelli (Nutley, NJ, Nutley), who opened the inning with an infield single.

Montclair State then blew the game open in the fifth with five runs. Sophomore Jaclyn Allegretta (Hackensack, NJ, Hackensack) singled with one out and Brooke Powers (Newton, NJ, Pope John XXIII) walked with both scoring on Amato's double to right-centerfield making the score 3-0. Hill walked with the bases loaded to force in another run and Cumberton delivered the final runs with a single into centerfield that scored Melissa Rustemeyer (Colonia, NJ, Colonia) and pinch-runner Sam Camacho (Jersey City, NJ, County Prep).

The Red Hawks' final four runs in the sixth inning came on one swing of the bat from Amato, who drilled a grand slam to center field for her first round-tripper of the year and the 27th of her career.

Hill earned the first of her two victories on the day as she allowed just four singles, struck out seven and walked three.

Against the Red Dragons, Montclair jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning taking advantage of a pair of Cortland errors. Powers led off with a single and came all the way around to score the game's first run on Rustemeyer's double off the left field fence. A throwing error on Melany Zeller's (Bloomfield, NJ, Bloomfield) ground ball allowed Rustemeyer to score the second run.

That turned out to be all the scoring Hill would need as she improved to 3-0 with her third shutout. She walked one and faced only two threats by the Red Dragons. The first came in the second on a leadoff double however Hill retired the next three, including the final two by strikeout ending the threat. In the sixth, Hill had first and second with one out, but got a strikeout and fielder's choice on the next two hitters.

Montclair State would add an insurance run in the sixth inning as Rustemeyer singled back through the middle scoring Lauren Guillen (Secaucus, NJ, Secaucus) for a 3-0 MSU advantage.

Rustemeyer finished 3-for-3 at the plate while Powers had two hits for MSU.

The Red Hawks will have Tuesday off and will resume action on Wednesday, March 12 with back-to-back contests beginning at 11:00 am. MSU will face Beloit in the first game and take on Greensboro College at 1:00 pm.