Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University baseball team took down #9 Salisbury 5-3 on Saturday afternoon in Day Two of the 2025 MSU Invitational at Yogi Berra Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (8-6) received a strong start from PATRICK CUCCURULLO, who retired the side in order to kick off the contest. Montclair threatened in the bottom half of the stanza, placing two runners in scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from MARCUS JOHNSON. The Sea Gulls retired the final two batters of the frame on punchouts to keep the game scoreless.
• Salisbury put the first two batters of the inning on base with a single and a walk, and a ground out moved both into scoring position. Another walk later in the stanza loaded the bases, and an error kept the inning going and plated two runs for the visitors. Cuccurullo retired all six batters he faced over the next two innings, including striking out the side in the fourth.
• The visitors put two runners on again in the fifth, but Cuccurullo induced a ground out to third base to keep the deficit at two. MICHAEL MURPHY walked to kick off the bottom half of the stanza, and made it to third on a hit-and-run by BRODY DIERS, who singled up the middle. During the next at-bat, Diers attempted to steal second, which allowed Murphy to take home on the throw.
• Montclair leveled the contest in the next inning, as Johnson notched a leadoff double to right field, and MATT SHUHET walked to put a second runner on. Two batters later, BILLY TIGAR singled to left field to plate Johnson on an interference call as he tried to get to third. PATRICK TEEHAN entered the game in relief in the seventh and retired the side in order.
• The Red Hawks put the first two batters on to begin the bottom half of the seventh, and a ground out moved them both into scoring position. Salisbury intentionally walked Johnson to load the bases for Shuhet, who doubled to center field to drive in two runs to put Montclair in front. Tigar drove in Johnson later in the frame on a sacrifice fly to make the margin three with two innings to go.
• Teehan retired all three batters he faced in the eighth, but an error in the ninth by the Red Hawks put two runners on base for Salisbury, who plated a run on a single to center field. Teehan closed the door with the next two outs to secure the top ten victory for Montclair.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Levis led the way for the Red Hawks with his third three-hit performance of the season. He increased his team lead to 20 on the day.
• Tigar recorded his first career multi-RBI performance of his career, with Shuhet also knocking in two runs.
• Cuccurullo finished the day with six strikeouts over six innings. He has punched out five or more batters in all four of his starts this season, going six or more innings in each of his last three.
• Teehan earned the victory, spanning the final three frames of the day. He has not allowed an earned run in six appearances and 12 and two thirds innings this season.

FROM THE FIELD

"PATRICK CUCCURULLO and PATRICK TEEHAN did a phenomenal job against a very good club today and some timely hitting led to a strong program win - we need to continue the momentum and win the weekend tomorrow." - Head Coach Dave Lorber

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will close out the 2025 MSU Invitational against #13 Penn State Harrisburg on Sunday, March 16. First pitch from Yogi Berra Stadium is scheduled for 12:30 PM.