Little Falls, NJ (4/2/11) – Junior lefthander Sean Hille (Edison, NJ / St. Joseph's (Metuchen)) tossed eight scoreless innings in the opener for Montclair State while junior left fielder Mickey McGraw (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) drove in three-runs, including two in a four-run seventh as Montclair State swept a doubleheader from Rutgers-Camden in a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader at Yogi Berra Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Montclair State (8-6, 1-1 NJAC) won the first game 3-0 before rallying for an 8-5 victory in the second contest. Tom Clarke (Brick, NJ / Brick Memorial) drove in four runs in the second game for Rutgers-Camden, which fell to 7-9 overall, 0-2 in the NJAC.
Hille picked up his second win (2-1) of the season and second in as many years against the Scarlet Raptors. The lefty struck out six and walked one as he allowed seven hits. Righthander Anthony Cavalier (Sewell, NJ / Washington Township) was the hard-luck loser falling to 3-3. Cavalier gave up three runs, one earned, struck out two and walked four.
Last season Hille defeated the Raptors 2-1 in a complete-game performance and it looked as though he would need to do it again.
Montclair got a run in the bottom of the first as Michael Boggi (Towaco, NJ / Montville) battled through and eight-pitch walk to reach first. Boggi would steal second and went to third as the ball skipped into centerfield. Kevin Bond (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) then lined a double into the right-center gap scoring Boggi as Montclair led 1-0.
The Scarlet Raptors would put runners on second and third with two outs in the second, however Hille would get a pop up to end the threat and then retired the next eight batters before Rutgers-Camden threatened again with back-to-back, two-out singles in the fifth. Hille induced a ground out to end that as MSU maintained its 1-0 lead.
John Santilli (Folsom, NJ / St. Joseph (Hammonton)) collected a one-out double in the sixth but Hille got a ground out and then picked off Santilli to end the inning. In the seventh, Joe DiMento (Turnersville, NJ / Washington Township) singled up the middle to open the inning, but Hille erased that with his second pickoff of the game nailing pinch runner Nicco Esgro (Glassboro, NJ / Glassboro) at first base.
Montclair would then add to its lead in the bottom of the frame. Cody Pace (Milltown, NJ / Spotswood) walked and Cavalier made an error on a sacrifice attempt putting runners at first and second. A passed ball allowed both runners to move up and Pace would score as Matt Moreno (Park Ridge, NJ / Park Ridge) singled in the infield. Andrew Himmelfarb (Nyack, NY / Nyack) followed with a sacrifice fly as the Red Hawks led 3-0.
Hille would pitch a scoreless eighth and then turned it over to freshman lefty Jonathan Torregroza (Bound Brook, NJ / Immaculata), who went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his second save of the season.
Bond had two hits for Montclair while Clarke had two for Rutgers-Camden.
The Scarlet Raptors outhit MSU, 7-6.
In the nightcap, Montclair State trailed 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh before erupting for four runs to take the lead. Bond walked, stole second, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch cutting the deficit to 5-4. Pace would draw a walk and got around to third on an errant pickoff throw and wild pitch. After a strikeout for the second out, Sam Politan (Livingston, NJ / Livingston) grounded a ball back through the middle scoring Pace as Montclair State knotted the game at 5-5.
Himmelfarb followed with a double, putting runners at second and third and McGraw brought them both home with a single down the left field line as Montclair went up 7-5.
The Red Hawks added an insurance run in the eighth inning as Bond scored on a ground out.
Freshman righthander Jesse Campanelli (Rahway, NJ / Rahway) picked up the win in relief, his first (1-1). Freshman lefty Dylan Papa (South Plainfield, NJ / South Plainfield) recorded the final four outs for his second save of the year. Reliever John Diamond (Mount Holly, NJ / Holy Cross) took the loss falling to 1-2.
Bond finished with three hits for Montclair State while McGraw, Bionde and Bowens each had two as MSU registered 13 hits.
Clarke finished 2-for-4 with four RBI for the Scarlet Raptors while Jon Hydock (Medford, NJ / Shawnee) had two hits in the game and three for the doubleheader giving him 99 for his career. DiMento and Joe Merlino (Pine Hill, NJ / Overbrook) also had two hits apiece in the game for Rutgers-Camden.
Montclair State returns to action on Monday, April 4 as they travel to Troy, NY to face Rensselaer Polytechnic at 4:00 pm. Rutgers-Camden is home to Haverford College on Wednesday, April 6 at 3:30 pm.