Los Angeles, CA – The Montclair State University baseball team surged past Occidental College 15-8 on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (8-1) opened the game with two runs in the top of the first inning. With the first two batters on base, RYAN MCKENNA singled through the right side to bring MARCUS JOHNSON home. During the next at-bat, Montclair executed a double steal that brought SAM ANGELO in from third base.
• Johnson doubled to left field the next frame, driving in the third tally of the contest for the Red Hawks. Occidental cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the second on a solo home run down the right field line, and made the score 3-2 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly.
• The Red Hawks immediately answered, as Angelo led off the top of the fifth with a home run to right center field. The teams continued to trade runs as Occidental used a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the frame to make it a 4-3 ballgame.
• Montclair broke the game open in the sixth, as Johnson started the offensive surge with a two-run home run to right field. Angelo later scored on a wild pitch, and JOE GISONDA singled to left field to bring in another tally to make the score 8-3.
• The visitors added two more runs on a sacrifice fly from MATT KALISKE and an RBI single from REECE MALEK to reach double-digits. During the next at-bat, JASON MOORE scored on a wild pitch, and Johnson drove in two on a single later in the sixth to make the margin 10.
• MATT SHUHET singled through the right side to make the score 14-3 in the seventh, but Occidental responded with back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the stanza to cut the deficit to eight.
• Johnson homered to center field in the top of the eighth for Montclair's final tally of the afternoon. The Tigers struck for two runs in the bottom of the ninth but could not cut into the deficit any further.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Montclair has won eight consecutive contests, scoring six or more runs in six of those games. The 15 runs marked a season-high and the most since April 14, 2023, when the Red Hawks scored 25 against New Jersey City University.
• The Red Hawks recorded 17 hits, marking the first time since April 23, 2023 when the team tallied 15 or more hits in a game.
• Johnson finished with a career-high six RBI on four hits, two being home runs.
• Angelo and Malek each tallied three hits in the game, both being season-highs.
• Seven different Red Hawks drove in runs, with eight collecting at least one hit.
• MATT PONTARI struck out five batters over five innings pitched in his second start of the campaign.
• The weekend series against Occidental marks the first trip to California for Montclair since the 2007 season. The two teams are also meeting for the first time since 1998.

FROM THE FIELD

"Our offense came alive with a big inning and we were able to hold the lead. Good to win the series but looking forward to finishing it tomorrow." - Head Coach Dave Lorber

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will close out the three-game weekend set with Occidental on Sunday, March 10. First pitch from Los Angeles, CA is scheduled for 4:00 PM Eastern Time.