Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University baseball team narrowly fell to Stevens, 9-8, on Tuesday afternoon at Yogi Berra Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (14-7) fell behind in the first inning, as the Ducks placed two runners on with two outs following back-to-back strikeouts. During the next at-bat, Stevens cleared the bases on a single to center field to put the visitors up. They added to their advantage in the second, as another pair of singles with two outs led to a hit down the right field line to push the margin to three.
• Montclair notched their first run of the game in the bottom half of the stanza, as MICHAEL MURPHY singled to left field and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt. During the same at-bat, CHRIS GONZALO singled up the middle to plate Murphy from second base to cut the deficit to two. 
• The Red Hawks broke through in the fifth with a rally kicked off by back-to-back walks. Later in the stanza, ZACH STEARNS singled to left field to drive in LUKAS EGENHAUSER from third. With two runners in scoring position and two outs, CHASE FISCHER launched a ball off the fence in right center field to vault the Red Hawks in front, 5-3.
• In the sixth, JUSTIN KILYK notched a pinch hit walk, and DYLAN BRIGGS entered the contest as a pinch runner and stole second during the next at-bat to put a runner in scoring position for Gonzalo, who singled up the middle to plate Montclair's sixth tally of the day. A leadoff home run in the seventh brought Stevens back within two, and they shaved the margin down to one later in the inning on a single through the left side with a runner on third.
• MARCUS JOHNSON led off the Montclair half of the frame with an infield single and stole second during the next at-bat, where Fischer brought him home on a deep sacrifice fly to right field. Stevens came within one run again in the eighth, as back-to-back singles led to a pickoff attempt during the ensuing at-bat which allowed a run to come home from third. 
• Stevens reclaimed the lead in the ninth, as a pair of hits put two runners on with two outs led to a three-run home run to right field to make the score 9-7. In the home half of the inning, Stearns reached on a throwing error and Johnson singled through the right side to put two on base to start the stanza. After a fly out, BILLY TIGAR walked to load the bases for Murphy, who singled to right field to make it a one-run contest. The visitors retired the final two batters of the game to seal the victory.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Fischer led the way for Montclair with four runs batted in, notching his third home run over his last four games. Over Montclair's last six games, he has amassed 11 hits, 12 RBI, and six extra base hits.
• Gonzalo notched his second career multi-hit game, driving in a career-best two runs. Johnson's pair of hits marked his 11th multi-hit contest of the campaign, with Murphy being the third Red Hawk to tally multiple hits on the day.

FROM THE FIELD

"That's a good game to experience and learn from right before heading into conference play. Onto the second half of the season and NJAC play." - Head Coach Dave Lorber

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will open up New Jersey Athletic Conference play on Saturday, March 29, in a doubleheader against Ramapo. First pitch from Yogi Berra Stadium is scheduled for 11:30 AM and 2:30 PM.