Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State softball team, ranked No. 4 in the latest NFCA Division III Poll, got a three-hit shutout from senior righthander Alex Hill (Parsippany, NJ, Parsippany Hills) in the first game before getting the tables turned on them by Rowan in the nightcap as the Red Hawks and Profs split their NJAC doubleheader on Saturday.

Senior third baseman Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ, Pascack Valley) drove in the lone run in the first game as MSU (34-4) took the opener 1-0 before Rowan's Beth Ann Hyland allowed just one hit in the second game helping Rowan to a 5-0 victory.

The split left the Red Hawks at 15-3 in the NJAC, tied with William Paterson University, which swept past The College of New Jersey in a pair of one-run contests. However, WPU won the tiebreaker against the Red Hawks and claimed the No. 1 seed for the NJAC Tournament.

Montclair State, which will be the No. 2 seed in the tournament, will host fifth-seeded Richard Stockton in the opening round on Tuesday, April 29 at the MSU Softball Stadium beginning at 4:00 pm. The Red Hawks swept Richard Stockton in the regular-season meeting winning 4-3 in nine innings in the first game and 6-2 in the second contest on March 31. 

Following Tuesday's action the remainder of the tournament then shifts to Wayne, NJ beginning on Friday, May 2.

In the opener, Hill registered her 14 shutout of the season and improved to 23-2 as she allowed just five runners to reach base. Hill struck out 10 and walked two, yet was locked in a scoreless battle against the Profs until the third inning when MSU scored the only run of the game.

Freshman Lauren Guillen (Secaucus, NJ, Secaucus) led off the inning with an infield single and Brooke Powers (Newton, NJ, Pope John XXIII) followed with a base hit putting runners at first and second. Senior catcher Alisha Cumberton (Toms River, NJ, Toms River East) sacrificed both runners over and Guillen scored as Amato singled to left field. Hill was hit by a pitch to load the bases, however Rowan's Krysti Maronski got force out at the plate and foul pop up to end the inning.

Hill made the run hold up retiring 12 of the final 14 Profs hitters she faced.

Amato had two of the five Montclair State hits in the game.  

In the second game, Rowan's Shilah Snead and Jennifer Arcella each drove in two runs to back the one-hit pitching of Hyland, who improved to 13-5. Alison Cullen (Branchburg, NJ, Immaculata) (11-2) took the loss for Montclair State.

Snead had an RBI double to break a scoreless game in the second and Arcella followed with a single giving Rowan a 2-0 advantage. Snead extended the lead in the fourth with a solo home run and the Profs tacked on two more in the sixth on an RBI double by Arcella and run-scoring single by Alysa Romero.

The runs were more than enough for Hyland, who allowed a two-out single to Hill in the first inning before setting down 18 of the final 21 Red Hawk batters she faced.