Little Falls, NJ (3/29/11) – Sophomore righthander Zach Brown (New Vernon, NJ / Morristown) pitched six strong innings for his third win of the season while Montclair State three clutch two-out hits which providing all of the offense as the Red Hawks downed DeSales University, 5-1 in MSU's home opener at Yogi Berra Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
Jason Chesterman (Bloomfield, NJ / Bloomfield) and Mickey McGraw (Morristown, NJ /Morristown) each drove in two runs while senior Andrew Himmelfarb (Nyack, NY / Nyack) drove in one run with the first of the big hits as the Red Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak. Montclair State is now 7-5 overall this season.
Senior centerfielder Carson Slonaker (East Greenville, PA / The Perkiomen School) drove in a run for DeSales, which fell back to the .500 mark at 7-7 with the loss.
Brown upped his record to 3-0 this season as he went the first six innings allowing a run and four hits. He struck out four and walked three before giving way to freshman lefty Dylan Papa (South Plainfield, NJ / South Plainfield), who pitched three scoreless innings (three hits, two strikeouts) for his first career save.
Sophomore righthander Colby Pacillo (Lebanon, NJ / Immaculata) took the loss falling to 3-1. Pacillo gave up three runs and four hits in four innings, striking out two and walking four.
Montclair got all the runs they would need in the bottom of the second. With two outs and a runner at second, Mike Ercolano (Vernon, NJ / Vernon) walked. Himmelfarb then singled back through the middle scoring Cody Pace (Milltown, NJ /Spotswood) for a 1-0 MSU lead. Four pitches later, including a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third, McGraw line a pitch into left center scoring Ercolano and Himmelfarb as the Red Hawks led 3-0.
DeSales would get a run back in the fourth as Sloanker bounced a ball through the right side plating a run as the Bulldogs made the score 3-1 and had runners at the corners with two outs. On the next pitch, Brown caught the runner off first base and had him in a rundown before whirling and firing home to nail the runner at the plate for the third out of the inning.
The Red Hawks would add to their lead in the fifth with another two-out hit. This one came from Chesterman, whose single to left field scored Kevin Bond (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) and Anthony Bowens (Nutley, NJ / Nutley) as MSU led 5-1.
Jay Bionde (Pompton Plains, NJ / Pequannock) had two hits for MSU, which finished with seven in the game. Jack Kavetski (Plymouth Meeting, PA / Plymouth Whitemarsh) had two hits for DeSales which also had seven hits in the game.
Montclair State returns to action on Thursday, March 31 as MSU takes on Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA at 3:30 pm. DeSales is back on the diamond tomorrow afternoon as they face Lebanon Valley in Annville, PA at 3:30 pm.