Newark, NJ – The Montclair State baseball team pounded out 17 hits in the opener and then scored seven times in its final two at bats of the nightcap as the Red Hawks moved back to the .500 mark with a doubleheader sweep of Rutgers-Newark at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium on Saturday.

Senior lefthander JONATHAN TORREGROZA tossed eight solid innings in the first game as the Red Hawks rolled to a 14-2 victory over the Scarlet Raiders (10-22, 1-13 NJAC). CHRISTOPHER REYNOLDS drove in four runs in the second as Montclair evened its record at 14-14 overall, 8-6 in the NJAC with a 9-4 triumph.

Torregroza allowed six hits and two runs striking out three and walking three as he too squared his record at 3-3. It is the third consecutive start in which Torregroza went eight innings and the fourth time this season.

Rutgers-Newark struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning however that was answered in the second and then some. PHILIP SCOTT tied the game with an infield single and KEVIN ALONSO put MSU in front with a base hit to left field. Corey Cordasco walked with the bases loaded for another run as RYAN LONG delivered a run with a fielder's choice for a 4-1 MSU advantage.

The Scarlet Raiders cut the lead to two in the fourth with a home run but Montclair countered with four runs in the seventh on a two-run single by RICH BURNER and a Scott triple that plated two more making the score 8-2. Long and Reynolds each had RBI singles in the eighth before the Red Hawks closed out the game with four in the ninth, three on a home run by MIKE TOLERICO for what turned out to be the final margin.

Alonso finished 3-for-5 while Burner, PETER PENA and Reynolds all had two hits for MSU.

The second contest would be much tighter until the final innings. Rutgers-Newark again took a 1-0 lead in the second however Tolerico brought home two in the fourth putting the Red Hawks in front. The Scarlet Raiders tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth and that's the way it would stay until the teams combined for nine runs in the final two innings.

Montclair scored four times in the eighth as Reynolds drove in two with a base hit and Burner added another on a sacrifice before a Tolerico single gave MSU a 6-2 lead. Rutgers-Newark got half of those runs back in the bottom of the inning on a two-run double but put the game away with a three-run ninth inning. Alonso crossed the plate on a wild pitch and Reynolds smacked a two-run double for the 9-4 lead.

Reliever ANTHONY ALTIERI got the victory as he upped his record to 2-0. Freshman reliever AUSTIN MINTON got the Red Hawks out of the eighth inning and then tossed a clean inning in the ninth to record his third save. LOUIS PIMPINELLA went the first 6 2/3 innings allowing two runs and six hits. He walked three and struck out one.

Reynolds finished 4-for-5 while Tolerico (3 RBI) and Alonso had two hits apiece for Montclair, which scored a combined 17 runs in the 7-8-9 innings on the afternoon.

Montclair State returns to action on Tuesday, April 21 as it travels to York, PA to face York College at 4:00 pm.