Wayne, NJ – The Montclair State University baseball team took down William Paterson 8-6 behind three home runs on Thursday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (17-7, 3-0 NJAC) jumped out in front right from the start, as BILLY TIGAR homered to right field with runners on the corners to give the Red Hawks a three-run advantage. MICHAEL MURPHY walked during the next at-bat and advanced to second on a wild pitch, setting the table for MATT SHUHET, who singled to right field to drive in the fourth marker of the stanza.
• JACK HAVESON got the start for the Red Hawks and surrendered just one hit over the opening two innings, and Tigar homered again in the third to make the score 5-0 in favor of the visitors. The Pioneers broke through in the bottom half of the frame, putting the first two batters on with a walk and a single. A double down the left field line later in the stanza cleared the bases to cut the deficit back to three.
• Montclair countered immediately in the fourth, as LUKAS EGENHAUSER kicked off the inning with a triple down the right field line. Two at-bats later, JARED LEVIS singled up the middle to drive in Egenhauser for the sixth run of the day for the Red Hawks. The Pioneers threatened again in the inning, but Haveson notched a bases-loaded strikeout to end a potential rally for the home side.
• CHASE FISCHER led off the fifth with a home run to left center on a full count to increase the lead to five, and Haveson set the Pioneers down in order to cap off his day. Montclair tacked on their final run of the day the following frame, as Fischer singled up the middle with runners on the corners to bring in CHRIS GONZALO.
• William Paterson rallied in the bottom half of the sixth, putting the first two batters on, with a single through the left side later in the frame driving in a marker to cut the margin to five. A bases-loaded walk brought home another run, and a single to center field during the ensuing at-bat tallied two more runs to make it a two-score game. PATRICK TEEHAN entered the game in relief with two runners on and tallied the final two outs of the inning.
• Teehan retired the side in order in the seventh and set down three of the four batters he faced in the eighth. After the Pioneers kicked off the ninth with a leadoff single, Montclair induced a double play to quickly neutralize the threat. After another hit during the next at-bat, William Paterson flied out to left field to seal the road victory for the Red Hawks.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• The pair of home runs for Tigar were the first of his collegiate career, as he drove in a career-high four runs on the day. He has notched a hit in 10 of his last 11 appearances.
• Fischer tallied his fifth home run of the year and three hits overall for the afternoon. He has homered in five of his last seven games, and has accumulated 16 hits and 18 RBI over his nine-game hitting streak.
• Shuhet tallied a pair of hits and a run batted in, marking his fourth multi-hit performance of the campaign. 
• Haveson notched his second win of the campaign and 15th of his collegiate career, spanning five innings and punching out a pair of batters.
• Teehan recorded a season-high three and two thirds innings pitched en route to his nation-leading eighth save of the season. He moved into a tie with Haveson and Todd Sak for second in program history with 11 career saves, one-off the all-time mark of 12 set by Taylor Parsons.
• The 3-0 start in New Jersey Athletic Conference play is Montclair's best since 2012, when it opened league competition with four wins in a row.

FROM THE FIELD

"That's a really good offensive day on the road, we hit some balls hard but we need to extend the lead. We look forward to being back home tomorrow." - Head Coach Dave Lorber

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will return home to host William Paterson on Friday, April 4. First pitch from Yogi Berra Stadium is scheduled for 3:30 PM.