Montclair, NJ – Sophomore Jorden Jurkiewicz homered and delivered the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Montclair State held off an Eastern University rally in the ninth for an 11-10 victory at Yogi Berra Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
Righthander Jack Haveson struck out the final two hitters with the tying run on third base as the Red Hawks captured the first meeting between the team while improving to 11-4 on the season.
Montclair built a 6-1 lead in the third inning. Michael Murphy put MSU in front 2-1 with an RBI single and Anthony Guarino added two more with a base hit for a 4-1 advantage. Jason Moore followed with a two-run single for the five-run cushion.
But the Eagles erased that and then some in the fifth inning scoring eight times. Shortstop Brad Clemens capped the rally for Eastern with a three-run double that gave the visitors a 10-6 lead.
The Red Hawks got a run back in the fifth on an RBI by Ryan McKenna and tied the game in the sixth inning as Jurkiewicz blasted a two-run shot high off the scoreboard in left-center field, his sixth of the year, knotting the game at 10-10. He would play a role in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Joe Norton double with one out and went to third on an errant pickoff attempt. Eastern would get a pop up in the field for the second out. Jurkiewicz stepped to the plate and topped a ball just up the third base line, allowing Norton to score making the score 11-10.
Eastern would come within 90 feet of tying the game in the ninth. Griffen Falco walked with one out and pinch-hitter Sean Cottrell flared a single to right-center sending pinch-runner Brock Langlotz to third. Haveson would strikeout the next hitter with pinch-runner Evan Amey taking second on the defensive indifference. With the tying run on third and go-ahead run on second, Haveson would fan the next hitter to nail down the win for MSU.
Reliever Darren Gonzalez picked up the win in relief as he pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief strikeout four and walking two. Haveson recorded his third save of the year.
Jurkiewicz and Murphy each finished with three hits for Montclair State, which pounded out 17 in the game. McKenna, Guarino and Moore had two hits apiece.
The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, March 19 traveling to Swarthmore College for a 1:00 pm matchup with the Garnet. The game is a reschedule from the season-opening series between the two on February 19 down at the Ripken Experience in Aberdeen, Maryland.