Fort Meyers, FL – Junior righthander
BROOKE POWERS tossed a two-hit shutout and also helped her own cause with a pair of runs batted in as Montclair State shut out in-state rival Drew University 8-0 at the Gene Cusic Classic on Wednesday afternoon.
Freshman catcher
TINA CIACCIARELLI also had two RBI as the Red Hakws squared their record at 3-3. Montclair is slated to wrap up its Cusic Classic appearance on Thursday with a 9:00 am contest against Curry College followed by a 11:00 matchup with Dominican College (IL).
Powers evened her record at 2-2 with her first career shutout. She faced three batters over the minimum, allowed two singles, struck out one and walked two.
A scoreless game heading into the bottom the of the third, Montclair State cracked the scoring column with a run as
NOEL HODGINS reached on an error to open the inning, stole second and scored as Powers slapped a single to right field.
The Red Hawks then exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fourth sending 11 batters to the plate. Three straight walks with one out loaded the bases. Powers then began the scoring rally with a single that was followed by an RBI base hit from
BRIANNA DAVIDSON making the score 3-0. Senior
MELANY ZELLER made it three consecutive hits brining home Hodgins for the third run of the inning.
Two more runs would score on a fielding error before Ciacciarelli plated the final two runs with a double up the left-center gap.
Powers finished 2-for-3 for Montclair State.
Earlier in the day, the Red Hawks fell to Ohio Wesleyan, 9-6.
After Montclair scored a run in the first inning on an RBI single from
ALANA LUNA, the Battling Bishops totaled seven runs of the next three innings to grab a 7-1 lead. Montclair cut that down to 7-5 in the bottom of the fourth with Powers delivering the big blow with a three-run double.
Ohio Wesleyan would get two runs back in the top of the fifth before Powers belted a solo home run in the sixth for what turned out to be the final margin.
Powers was 3-for-4 at the plate with
MELANY ZELLER going 3-for-3.