Port Charlotte, FL – Senior righthander Alex Hill (Parsippany, NJ, Parsippany Hills) fired a two-hit shutout with 15 striketouts in the opener while junior Alison Cullen (Branchburg, NJ, Immaculata) added five shutout innings in the second game as No. 2 Montclair State swept its opening contests at the Rebel Spring Games on Sunday.

Senior third baseman Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ, Pascack Valley) and freshman Lauren Guillen (Secaucus, NJ, Secaucus) each drove in three runs as the Red Hawks (2-0) blanked Illinois Wesleyan 2-0 and Mitchell College 8-0.

Hill struck out 15 batters in a game for the sixth time in her career and finished one shy of her own single-game record as she registered her 45th career shutout.  She walked two and allowed just two runners to reach second base.

While Hill was dominating the Titans (0-1), IWU's Molly McCready was just as effective allowing two hits and striking out 13 while working around six walks.

With both pitchers in comman, runs were a premium and it was Montclair State managing to get the only scores of the game as it took advantage of two Titans errors , the first coming in the top of the second.

Junior Melany Zeller (Bloomfield, NJ, Bloomfield) was hit by a pitch to open the inning and went to second on a sacrifice by Brooke Powers (Newton, NJ, Pope John XXIII). Guillen walked sending pinch runner Cullen to second. Cullen went to third on a passed ball and scored as the throw down to third base skipped away giving the Red Hawks a 1-0 lead.

That's the way the game would stay until the top of the seventh when another error led to Montclair State's second run. Alisha Cumberton (Toms River, NJ, Toms River East) walked with one out and after a strikeout, Amato sent a ball to right field that was misplayed allowing Cumberton to score all the way from first base with the Red Hawks other run.

In the second contest with Mitchell, Cullen (1-0) allowed a hit, struck out five and walked one continuing the Red Hawks' solid pitching. Powers finished up the game with a scoreless inning.

Montclair jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first as Powers led off with a base hit and scored two batters later when Zeller singled through the left side. The lead grew to 3-0 in the third inning as Guillen doubled in one run and Amato followed with an RBI single.

Junior Tara Petrucelli (Nutley, NJ, Nutley) had an RBI single in the fourth inning and Amato belted a double in the fifth that plated Guillen for a 5-0 advantage. Guillen capped off a 3-for-3 day driving in a pair of run with a single in the sixth with Amato, who was 3-for-4, capping the Red Hawks scoring with an RBI single.

Sophomore shortstop Jaclyn Allegretta (Hackensack, NJ, Hackensack) was 2-for-3 for MSU, which collected 12 hits in the game.

Montclair State continues is schedule in the Rebel Spring Games on Monday, March 10 with a 9:00 am matchup with Muskingum followed by an 11:00 am contest with fourth-ranked Cortland.