Montclair, NJ – Senior catcher LIA STAMILE homered in the first game while junior righthander KIARA RUIZ fired a one-hitter in the nightcap as Montclair State extending its winning streak to 15 with a sweep of Centenary University at the MSU Softball Stadium on Thursday.

Junior VALENTINA CUCCI earned a victory and had four RBI as the Red Hawks upped their record to 17-3 on the season knocking off the Cyclones (7-13), 9-3 and 9-1. The 15-game winning streak is the longest by MSU since a 25-game streak during the 2014 campaign.

The Red Hawks sent 12 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning of the opener putting seven runs on the board. AMBER POWERS led off with a double and came home on a bunt single by sister KAYLEE POWERS. Cucci doubled for a second run with Samantha DiClementi adding two more with a double for a 4-0 lead. TAYLOR BROWN delivered another with a ground out with an error allowing BLAKE SAPERSTEIN to come home making the score 6-0. AMBER POWERS capped the scoring with her second double of the inning driving home ALEXIS LAW with the seventh run.

Stamile blasted the second pitch of the second inning for her fourth home run of the year as the lead grew to 8-0. Saperstein delivered the final run with an RBI single in the fourth.

The Cyclones broke through with three runs in the fifth. Tessa Ferentinos doubled in two runs and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Courtney Deloughery.

Cucci got the victory as she improved to 5-0 allowing four hits in her four innings of work. ALYSSA BERNARDO closed out the game to record her fourth save of the year. AMBER POWERS and Stamile had three hits each.

In the nightcap, Ruiz allowed just a single and struck out seven as she upped her record to 5-2 on the season. Stamile, AMBER POWERS and Brown had two hits apiece for Montclair State.

Cucci put the Red Hawks up 1-0 in the first with a sac fly and a Stamile RBI double in the third gave Montclair a two-run advantage. Centenary cut that deficit in half in the fourth with its only hit, a single to right by Jessica Hewitt that eluded and out-stretched Cucci at first base.

Montclair quickly answered in the fifth with three runs. Cucci plated the first run with a double up the gap in right center before Saperstein's two-run double to the same spot widened the lead to 5-1. MSU closed out the game in the sixth with four runs. Cucci walked with the bases loaded and sophomore ALEXA PENNA drove a ball to the fence in left-center for two more runs giving Montclair an 8-1 lead. DiClementi brought home the final run with a base hit back through the middle.

The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, March 30 as they open New Jersey Athletic Conference play. Montclair heads to Galloway, NJ to face Stockton University in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 pm.