Montclair, NJ – Senior rightfielder Andrew Ollwerther went 6-for-10 with a pair of doubles and four RBI as Montclair State swept past Rutgers-Camden in an NJAC doubleheader at Yogi Berra Stadium on Saturday.
Miles Feaster hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as the Red Hawks (14-4, 6-3 NJAC) won the opener 6-5. Ollwerther was 5-for-6 with three RBI in the nightcap leading MSU to a 14-3 win, Montclair's third fourth straight triumph.
In the opener, the Red Hawks led 1-0 on an Ollwerther double, but fell behind in the third as the Scarlet Raptors (6-10, 4-6 NJAC) scored three times in the second. Feaster collected RBI singles in the second and third to tie the game and Montclair went back on top 4-3 as Jason Moore scampered home on a wild pitch in the fifth.
Rutgers-Camden regained the lead in the seventh as RJ McGettigan delivered a two-run single back through the middle for a 5-4 Raptor lead. In the bottom of the eighth, Joe Norton was hit by a pitch with one out. Feaster followed with a base hit sending Norton to third. Peter Cosentino lofted a sacrifice fly to right, tying the game at 5-5.
After reliever Alec Benzinger set down the side in order in the ninth, the Red Hawks began their winning rally thanks to an error on a one-out grounder by Eric Havner that put the winning run at second. Havner got to third on a ground out. Rutgers-Camden elected to walk Norton bringing up Feaster, who lined an 0-1 pitch into right-centerfield for the game-winning run.
Benzinger (2-0) got the victory as he went the final 2.2 innings, striking out two. Righthander Nick Listro (1-1) took the loss for the Raptors. Norton was 3-for-4 with four runs scored while Feaster was 4-for-6.
Montclair used the momentum from the first game, translating that into four runs in the first inning of the second contest. Cosentino, Michael Murphy and Anthony Guarino each had RBI base hits in the inning with Havner driving in the final run on a sac fly.
Ollwerther delivered a run with a base hit in the second and two runs in the third extended the lead to 7-0. Rutgers-Camden trimmed that back to 7-3 in the sixth on an RBI single by Nick Sylvester and were still threatening when Norton made a smothering stop on a grounder at third before throwing across the diamond for the final out.
Montclair State would put the game away with the final seven runs, including three in each of the last two innings. Ollwerther plated the final two in the eighth with an RBI double to complete his 5-for-6 contest.
Righthander Patrick Cuccurullo struck out nine over the first five innings to improve his record to 2-1. Lefty Brian Reiss tossed the final four innings to register his second save of the year. Keith Jacobs (1-1) suffered the loss.
Cosentino had three hits with Murphy recording a pair.
The Red Hawks conclude their weekend set against the Rutgers satellite campuses with a 1:00 pm contest against Rutgers-Newark at Yogi Berra Stadium on Sunday, April 18. MSU defeated the Scarlet Raiders on Friday in Newark, 12-2.