Wayne, NJ – Senior leftfielder P.J. Jennings (Morris Plains, NJ, Morristown) and senior shortstop Cody Pace (Milltown, NJ, Spotswood) each belted home runs while sophomore lefty Michael Macchia (Middletown, NJ, Middletown North) picked up his fifth win of the season as Montclair State clinched a spot in the NJAC Tournament with a 12-3 win over William Paterson at Jeff Albies Field on Thursday.

First baseman Christopher Reynolds (Randolph, NJ, Randolph) went 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI as the Red Hawks (17-15) won for the ninth time in their last 11 contests. MSU improved to 10-5 in the NJAC tied with Kean for third place in the league standings with three games remaining. Both teams are a game back of Rowan and Rutgers-Camden.

Montclair State hosts the Pioneers at Yogi Berra Stadium on Friday, April 25 at 3:30 pm before closing out its conference slate on Saturday, April 26 at home against New Jersey City University.

The Red Hawks took the early lead with a Connor Abreu (Piscataway, NJ, Piscataway) leadoff single to left, groundout, Lou Martini (Flemington, NJ, North Hunterdon) base hit and Reynolds RBI-single through the left side, making it a 1-0 score during the top of the first.

MSU strung together three bases hits, the last by freshman right fielder Ryan Long (Washington Township, NJ, Washington Township) to center field, to tack on another run in the second.

The Pioneers (11-18-1, 5-9-1 NJAC) halved that lead during the home half of the same frame. Sophomore left fielder Jimmy Kenny (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex Regional) hit a
one-out single up the middle, and freshman center fielder Mike Abate's (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) sacrifice attempt resulted in a base hit. Following a strikeout, senior second baseman Scott Ptaszynski (Wharton, N.J./Morris Hills) delivered a run-scoring double down the left-field line.

Pace's two-run homer over the right-field fence made it a 4-1 game in the fourth. Freshman center fielder Philip Scott (Paulsboro, NJ, Paulsboro) tripled to right field and scored via Jennings' sacrifice fly for a 5-1 margin during the top of the fifth inning.

The Red Hawks hung five on the scoreboard during the top of the sixth, including a three-run Jennings homer to center, and took advantage of a Keith Murphy (Point Pleasant, NJ, Point Pleasant Boro) RBI-single and a Pace run-scoring groundout for a 12-1 lead in the eighth.

Macchia improved to 5-1, allowing one run and four hits during his six innings, striking out four and walking one. Freshman Josh Felix (Elizabeth, NJ, Elizabeth) tossed the final three innings, giving up two runs on five hits while striking out three and walking a pair