Newark, NJ – Sophomore righthander
VALENTINA CUCCI tossed a two-hit shutout in the opener while
KAYLEE POWERS went 4-for-6 with four RBI as Montclair State swept past Rutgers-Newark at Alumni Field on Thursday afternoon.
Freshman
AMBER POWERS and sophomore
ELENA RADESICH had three RBI apiece as the Red Hawks improved to 16-8 overall while squaring their NJAC record at 4-4.
Cucci (4-1) posted her first shutout of the season and faced two batters over the minimum in picking up her fourth victory of the year. Meanwhile the MSU offense did all of its damage in two innings scoring four times in the fourth and five times in the fifth.
LIA STAMILE drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single in the fourth and
KAYLEE POWERS added two more on a base hit for a 3-0 lead. She scored on sister Amber's base hit.
SAM DICLEMENTI made the score 5-0 in the fifth with an RBI single and
ALANA LUNA scored on an error.
AMBER POWERS plated two more with a base hit through the right side with Radeisch delivering the final run on a single to right field.
Kaylee and
AMBER POWERS had two hits apiece as did Stamile and
VICTORIA GEHRING.
In the second game, Rutgers-Newark (15-10, 1-5 NJAC) took a lead in the first as pitcher Kelly Yusko drove in a run with a single.
Montcair answered with four runs in the second. Luna doubled home the first run and DiClementi had an RBI single before a two-run double by
KAYLEE POWERS gave the Red Hawks a 4-1 lead. Radesich singled home two more for a 6-1 advantage.
NOEL HODGINS extended the lead in the fifth with an infield single that scored Luna. Cucci's RBI ground out in the sixth put MSU in front 8-1. The Scarlet Raiders got two back in the bottom of the sixth to trim the deficit to five. Cucci entered the game and got the next three hitters and tossed a scoreless seventh to close out the game.
NICOLE MAJEWSKI got the victory upping her record to 6-1.
KAYLEE POWERS, Gehring, Luna and Hodgins had two hits apiece for the Red Hawks.
Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, April 14 returning home for an NJAC doubleheader against Stockton University at 1:00 pm.