Montclair, NJ – PATRICK TEEHAN became the program all-time leader in saves as the Montclair State University Baseball team took down UMass Dartmouth 5-4 on Opening Night at yogi Berra Stadium on Friday.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (1-0) received a stellar start from COLIN DOWLEN, who struck out the side to kick off the night. JARED LEVIS led off the bottom half of the opening stanza with a walk and stole second two at-bats later. The sophomore took third shortly after and scored on a throwing error from the Corsairs catcher to break open the scoring. In the same frame, ZACH STEARNS launched a home run over the left field fence to double the lead for Montclair.
• Dowlen continued to shut down hitters, posting two more scoreless frames, highlighted by a throw down to second from Stearns to prevent a stolen base in the third. In the home half of the inning, LUKAS EGENHAUSER doubled to left field and later came around to score on a single up the middle from MICHAEL WANSAW JR.. The Red Hawks loaded the bases with two outs, but UMass Dartmouth was able to escape the jam.
• With the margin holding at three in the bottom of the fifth, BILLY TIGAR ripped a home run down the right field line after Wansaw walked to add to the advantage for the Red Hawks. Dowlen came back out in the sixth and retired the side in order to cap off his start. The Corsairs rallied an inning later, loading the bases to kick off the stanza before MATT KING entered from the bullpen to record a crucial strikeout. UMass Dartmouth plated a pair of runs on a walk and sacrifice fly, with another walk loading the bases once again. With an infield pop-up that found a pocket to land, two more runs came around to score to cut the deficit to one.
• Montclair loaded the bases in their half of the seventh with a walk, intentional walk, and hit by pitch, with the visitors escaping their second bases-loaded situation of the night with a strikeout. Stearns rocketed another throw to second to record an out on a steal attempt after a leadoff single in the eighth, with JOE PACCIONE notching the remaining two outs. In the ninth, a leadoff walk would eventually lead to a runner on third with one out for Teehan, who tallied a pair of punchouts to slam the door on Montclair's opening night contest.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Dowlen amassed six scoreless frames on the mound for the Red Hawks en route to the victory, allowing just two total baserunners while striking out nine batters, matching his career-high set on April 5, 2025 against Rowan.
• With the save, Teehan became Montclair's all-time leader with 13 for his career, passing Taylor Parsons, who tallied 12 from 2014 to 2017. Teehan, in his fifth year with the program, returned from injury last season and recorded the second-most saves in a single season in program history with nine.
• The homer for Tigar was the sixth of his career, with Stearns notching his third. It marked Montclair's first contest with multiple players hitting a home run since April 27, 2025 against TCNJ.
• DYLAN BRIGGS picked up two hits, the first multi-hit performance of his collegiate career.

FROM THE BALLPARK

"Happy to get a win on Opening Night, COLIN DOWLEN and PATRICK TEEHAN were fantastic tonight on the mound. We will look to build offensively as we try to put together some strong at-bats the remainder of the weekend. Congratulations to Patrick, who made program history tonight coming off of a fantastic season in 2025." - Head Coach Dave Lorber

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will host UMass Dartmouth for a doubleheader on Saturday, February 21, with game one from Yogi Berra Stadium slated to begin at 12:00 PM.