APRIL 11, 2010
KING'S BASEBALL FALLS 6-2 TO NJAC POWER MONTCLAIR STATE
LITTLE FALLS, NJ -- Mickey McGraw went 3-for-4 with two RBI and the host Montclair State University baseball team broke open a scoreless games with runs in the fifth, seventh, and ninth innings en route to posting a 6-2 victory over King's College in a non-conference match Sunday at Yogi Berra Stadium.
Montclair, a perennial contender in the New Jersey Athleteic Conference, has made three trips to the NCAA national playoffs in the past four years. The Red Hawks improved to 13-7 while the Monarchs slipped to 13-9.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Montclair pushed across the first runs of the game when Jason Chesterman walked and Matt Moreno followed with a RBI double to center. Two batters later, McGraw drove in Marino from third with a single to left field. McGraw would eventually come home on a single up the middle by Andrew Himmelfarb to give the Red Hawks a 3-0 lead.
Montclair added a run in the seventh when Scott Glozzy reached base on an error. Pinch runner Mike Patterson moved to second on a balk, then stole third base before McGraw delivered a RBI single to right field for a 4-0 Red Hawk advantage.
Montclair added two more runs in the eighth when Mike Boggi tripled and scored on a base hit off the bat of Mike Ercolano to push the score to 6-0.
King's attempted to come back in the ninth when Rob Fravel walked and Matt Unger was hit by a pitch. After two infield outs, moved runners to second and third, Eric Matula stroked a two-run single to centerfield to cut the lead to 6-2. Mike Kuster followed with a single, moving Matula to third base but Brenton Eades struck out to end the game.
Kevin Bond aided the Red Hawk 10-hit offense with a 2-for-4 showing while five other players posted one hit each. Montclair starting pitcher Jack McDonough picked up the win, lasting eight complete innings and allowing five hits with two strikeouts. Matt Rago picked up the save in the ninth in striking out the final batter after relief pitcher Scott Shan allowed two runs on two hits before being lifted.
King's had seven hits on the day, led by Matula who was 3-for-4 with two RBI. Sean Rooney, Unger, Brian Mikus, and Kusters added one hit each for the Monarchs.
King's Bobby Peron pitched well in taking the loss, yielding 10 hits and four earned runs with two strikeouts in eight innings of work.
The Monarchs return to action Tuesday with a 4:00 p.m. home matchup with Penn State Abington in the Betzler Athletic Complex.
