Montclair, NJ – Righthanders
SAM KEATING and
NICOLE MAJEWSKI each tossed complete games while
LIA STAMILE belted a home run as Montclair State swept an NJAC doubleheader with Rutgers-Newark at the MSU Softball Stadium on Saturday.
KAYLEE POWERS drove in two runs in the second game as the Red Hawks recorded 3-1 and 6-1 victories to move to 12-10 overall, 3-3 in the NJAC.
Keating improved to 4-3 on the year as she scattered seven hits, struck out three and walked one.
Stamile gave Montclair the lead in the third inning, blasting the first pitch over the centerfield fence for her first home run of the year. The lead went to 2-0 in the fourth as
ELENA RADESICH singled back through the middle scoring pinch runner
BRYANNA LUCIANO.
Keating ran into a jam in the fifth as the Scarlet Raiders (9-11, 0-4 NJAC) loaded the bases with two outs. She then fell behind the next hitter 3-0 before coming all the way back with a strikeout to end the threat.
Montclair's final run came in the fifth as Powers reached on one-out infield single, stole second, went to third on a base hit by
NOEL HODGINS before scoring on a sacrifice fly by
VALENTINA CUCCI.
In the seventh, Rutgers-Newark mounted a rally with two outs. Kelly Yusko drove a single to centerfield scoring Sarah Stiehler trimming the MSU lead to 3-1. On the play however, Yusko was looking to take second on the throw home. Catcher
ALANA LUNA first the outfield throw from
VICTORIA GEHRING down to second base. Yusko tried to retreat back to first however Powers chased her down applying the tag for the final out.
Rutgers-Newark loaded the bases in the first inning of the second game but Montclair was able to escape it unscathed as Majewski got a shallow fly ball to Stamile in left field for the first out. The next hitter sent one out to left field for what appeared to be a sacrifice fly. But the Red Hawks turned in a heads up play as Stamile's throw back in nailed the runner heading to third base before the lead runner touched the plate keeping the game at 0-0.
Montclair used the momentum to get across a run in the bottom of the inning. The Red Hawks loaded the bases with one out and was able to capitalize as
BLAKE SAPERSTEIN grounded a ball that scored Hodgins for a 1-0 lead.
MSU added to the lead in the second with three runs. Powers laced a two-run double down the left field line and later scored on an error for a 4-0 lead. Samantha DiClementi added an RBI single in the third with Powers coming home on a wild pitch in the fourth for the final Montclair State run.
The Scarlet Raiders broke the shutout in the fifth but that would be it as Majewski set down nine of the final 11 batters of the game.
Majewski improved to 4-3 on the season as she allowed seven hits. Powers, Hodgins and DiClementi had two hits apiece for MSU, which had 10 in the game.
The Red Hawks go right back to work on Sunday, April 9 with a doubleheader at home against DeSales University beginning at 1:00 pm.
