Montclair, NJ - The Montclair State University softball team enters its final week of the regular season, starting with Ramapo on Tuesday.   

GAME INFO
The first of two games in Mahwah, NJ, is set for 3:00 p.m. Live coverage links are available at montclairathletics.com.

LAST TIME OUT
Montclair earned a spot in the NJAC tournament with two wins against Rutgers-Camden, 4-3 and 6-2 on Saturday. After retiring the side in the top of the first, the Red Hawks put the first run on the board in the bottom frame. SOPHIA ALONSO pushed a one-out single through the left side and swiped second. That put her in position for LIZ MULLEN to grab an RBI single down the right-field line and gave Montclair a 1-0 lead. Montclair threatened to extend the lead in the fourth. KATIE BRUNNER led off with a single to third base and advanced to second on a wild pitch. EMMA DEPEPPO pinch-hit and walked, putting two runners on. Brunner stole third and allowed DePeppo to get to second for two runners in scoring position with no outs. Camden got out of the jam with a strikeout and a lineout double play to keep the score at 1-0. The Red Hawks extended the lead in the bottom of the fifth. JAYLA VASQUEZ led off with a walk, and an error allowed Alonso to reach. CARLEE IANNONE loaded the bases on a single to centerfield, which allowed Mullen to hit a sacrifice fly to center that plated Vasquez for a 2-0 edge. Rutgers-Camden clawed back in the top of the sixth. A single and a sacrifice bunt moved a runner to second. Another single put runners on the corners for an RBI single and then an RBI ground out to tie the game, 2-2. Montclair got runners in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but was unable to score the go-ahead run, and the contest went into extra innings. In the eighth, the Scarlet Raptors moved the runner on second to third on a sacrifice bunt, but Montclair got the two outs they needed on a pop-up and a lineout. The Red Hawks mirrored the sacrifice bunt to move the runner on second, but lined into a double play to push the game to the ninth. The top of the ninth started with a passed ball that moved the runner to third. Montclair's defense forced two outs and a full count on the batter, but a single up the middle scored the runner on third. Montclair avoided any more runs but went into the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-2. Julianna Casillas led off with a sacrifice bunt to move Brunner to third. MARIALYS RICOURT pinch hit in a big spot and delivered with an RBI single up the middle that tied the game. Palmieri followed with a single down the left field line. With two outs, Vasquez worked a walk, and Alonso had bases loaded with two outs. She worked a full count and was hit by a pitch on the final throw of the game to score CALLIE KOZENIEWSKI, who pinch ran for Ricourt, for the winning run.
 
After a scoreless first inning, the Red Hawks got on the board in game two in the bottom of the second. Boles battled a 12-pitch at-bat that ended with a double to left field. A wild pitch sent her to third, and she scored on a sacrifice fly by MOLLY COLLIGAN for a 1-0 lead. ZOE TURNER kicked off the bottom of the third with a triple to the right-center gap. Vasquez put a sacrifice fly out to centerfield for Turner to reach home. Alonso followed with a single through the left side. Mullen placed down a bunt single, and an error on the throw allowed Alonso to round all the way home, and Mullen moved to second. Liz reached third on a wild pitch and completed her trip around the bases on an RBI single to right center by Boles that gave Montclair a 4-0 advantage. Back-to-back doubles at the top of the fifth gave Camden its first run of game two. They followed with a groundout to move a runner to third and nabbed a sacrifice fly of their own to cut the lead to 4-2. The Red Hawks countered in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, ASHLEY PALMIERI walked and stole second. Turner reached on an error and stole second, and both scored on an RBI ground out to first base for a 6-2 lead. The Montclair defense did its job the rest of the way and completed the sweep.
 
MONTCLAIR STATE (24-12, 9-5 NJAC) 2026 Stats

RAMAPO (25-10, 9-5 NJAC) 2026 Stats
 
SCOUTING RAMAPO
The Roadrunners enter this doubleheader with a 25-10 overall record and mirror Montclair's 9-5 NJAC record, with both of them tied for fourth place in the standings. Despite being on the right side of the win-loss column, they have struggled as of late, losing seven of the last eight games, including getting swept by Stockton, 5-4 and 12-2 on Saturday. Last season, Ramapo finished 33-11 and 12-6 in NJAC play. In the NJAC Tournament, they advanced to the NJAC Championship series with wins against Montclair (5-0) and TCNJ (4-2). They battled Rowan, where they took game one 2-0, but fell 5-2 and 9-2 to become the runners-up. They did earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. In their regional pod, they lost in the first matchup to MIT, 8-1. Ramapo bounced back with wins against John Jay (5-0) and MIT (7-3), before bowing out to Gettysburg (2-0). According to the 2026 NJAC Preseason Poll, they are slated to finish third this season.

SERIES HISTORY
The Red Hawks and the Roadrunners renew their rivalry after squaring off 78 times in their all-time series. Montclair is ahead of the series 47-31, but Ramapo has won seven of the last nine.    

LAST MEETING
These two teams met in the first round of the NJAC playoffs last season, where Ramapo came away with a 5-0 victory.

UP NEXT
Montclair will honor its senior class before matching up with The College of New Jersey on Saturday, April 25. Game one of the doubleheader is set for 1:00 p.m.