Union, N.J. (4/28/15) – Rookie Matt Krupa was 4-for-4 while senior Charles Thielmann tossed a complete game as the Kean University baseball team edged Montclair State University, 3-2 in the NJAC Tournament opener.

With the win the second-seeded Cougars will face off against #3 Ramapo College, 7-0 winners over #4 Rowan University.  With the loss the fifth-seeded Red Hawks will face #1 Rutgers-Camden, who were upset in the opening round by sixth-seeded The College of New Jersey, 9-4.

The matchups are now set for Friday as the tournament moves to Kean for its completion.  MSU/Camden will start at noon, followed by Rowan/TCNJ at 3:30 p.m.  Kean will face Ramapo in the nightcap at 7 p.m.

In today's action, it was the Cougars (29-10) who scratched across a single run in the sixth, all with two outs.  Junior Sal Taormina walked to put a runner aboard and Krupa laced a double scoring Taormina for a 1-0 lead.

That lead was short-lived as the Red Hawks (17-17) opened up the top of the seventh with back-to-back doubles from Keith Murphy and Philip Scott to tie the game up at one-all.  Kevin Alonso put MSU ahead with an RBI single.  Still with no outs, Thielmann was able to work through the jam recording a strikeout, one of 10 on the afternoon, and a non-traditional double play.  Ryan Long lofted a fly ball into short rightfield that junior Ryan Kelley got a beat on and dove forward for the second out of the inning.  Mike Tolerico, who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning, strayed too far off the bag at first and Kelley was able to fire a strike for the inning-ending double play.

MSU threatened again in the eighth with a runner on third and two outs, but senior Tom McGuckin was able to dive to his right, corral the ball and throw onto first for the final out of the inning.

Kelley got things going with a leadoff walk in the bottom of the eighth and after a flyout the Red Hawks elected to go to the bullpen to face Krupa who was 3-for-3 on the day at that point.  With Krupa batting, Kelley swiped second and moved to third on a wild pitch.  Krupa then laced a 3-1 pitch into the gap to tie the game at two-all.  Later with two outs, designated hitter Eric Fernandez blooped a single into right which was good enough for Krupa to score and give Kean the lead back, 3-2.

With one out in the ninth, Alonso singled to left to put the tying run on base.  With a hit and run on, and shortstop Ryan Reitmeyer running towards second base to cover the runner, Tolerico lined what might have been a single up the middle, but it played right to Reitmeyer who was able to swipe second and throw onto first for the game-ending double play. 

Krupa was 4-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and the game-winning run scored.  Fernandez and Reitmeyer were each 2-for-4. 

Thielmann improved to 6-2 allowing two runs and seven hits.  He walked two and fanned 10. 

For the Red Hawks, Alonso was 3-for-4 in the loss.