Flemington, NJ – SUNY Old Westbury scored three early runs and rode that momentum to a 7-4 victory over Montclair State at Diamond Nation on Thursday afternoon.

Catcher Peter Capel went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs as the Panthers improved to 3-0-1 in their first action since March 3.

Junior left fielder NICK MARTINEZ and junior right fielder CONNOR KELLY each had two hits and an RBI for MSU, which fell to 8-4 on the year.

Old Wesbury struck for two runs in the first as Capel came through with a two-out double scoring John Fogarty and Liam Slattery. The Panthers added another in the second taking advantage of back-to-back MSU errors for a 3-0 lead.  Montclair would get a run back in the third. JOE NORTON walked with one out and moved up a base on a sacrifice before scoring on a Martinez double to left field.

The Panthers answered in the fourth with Slattery collecting an RBI single for a 4-1 lead and Old Westbury extended it to four runs in the fifth as J Russo belted a ground-rule double scoring Shaun Kaminski. Jesse Condon added a sacrifice fly and Capel a run-scoring single in the eighth stretching the lead to 7-1.

MSU scored once in its half of the eighth as Kelly doubled home ANDREW OLLWERTHER and got two more in the ninth. Ollwerther walked with the bases loaded and BRODY LABBE delivered an RBI ground out for what turned out to be the final margin.

Vinny Negri (1-0) got the win for the Panthers as he allowed a hit in two scoreless innings. Senior righthander CONNOR LINDSAY (2-1) took the loss for Montclair State.

The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, March 17 with a doubleheader against Oneonta. The twinbill will be played at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY. The teams will play a 9-inning contest starting at Noon and follow-up with a 7-inning game approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.