Montclair, NJ – Senior first baseman Peter Cosentino had a walk-off, two-run single in the opener and then added two RBI in the second game as Montclair State swept its doubleheader with The College of New Jersey on Saturday at Yogi Berra Stadium.
The Red Hawks (24-7, 9-1 NJAC) extended their winning streak to seven games as it scored three times in the bottom of the ninth for a 4-3 victory in Game 1 before completing the sweep with a 9-3 victory in the nightcap.
The opener turned out to be a pitching battle between MSU's Patrick Cuccurullo and TCNJ's Ben Amon, who battled one another through the first six innings with the only scoring in the contest coming in the second as Anthony Guarino flared a two-out single into left center scoring Michael Murphy for a 1-0 Montclair lead.
That's the way the game stood until the eighth when the Lions took advantage of a pair of walks issued by reliever Jack Haveson. Catcher Chris Reeder drew the first and moved to second on a sacrifice and third on a wild pitch before scoring on a sac fly by Joe Oczkowski knotting the contest at 1-1. Ryan Goodall kept the inning alive with the second free pass and came around to score on an Anthony Fernandez double to center putting TCNJ on top, 2-1.
Amon maintained the lead for TCNJ in the eighth and then appeared to get an insurance run in the top of the ninth as Reeder's fly ball with two out was misplayed allowing Jack Hayne to score from first as New Jersey led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
But things would go wrong for the Lions in the inning from the start as a Sam Angelo fly was dropped with Angelo reaching third on the play. Miles Feaster brought home pinch-runner Reece Malek with a ground out as MSU trimmed the lead to 3-2. Amon fanned the next hitter for the second out and appeared to have the final out in hand on a fly ball to right by Jason Moore. However, that too would be misplayed allowing Moore to reach third. Ryan McKenna walked and TCNJ brought in Alec Schwartz, who walked Joe Norton to load the bases.
That brought up Cosentino. Prior to the game, the Red Hawks officially retired the No. 27 worn by College Baseball Hall of Famer John Deutsch. Cosentino, who currently wears the number and the last player, summoned a little Deutsch magic from the digit as he smacked the ball down the third base line scoring Moore and McKenna with the game-winning runs as the Red Hawks pulled out the victory, 4-3.
Haveson (2-0) would get the victory as he logged the final three innings. Cuccurullo struck out seven nd gave up four hits in his six-inning outing. Amon (2-3) fanned nine and allowed just one earned run of te four in hits 8 2/3 stint.
Cosentino, Murphy and Guarino had two hits each for MSU.
The second game saw TCNJ take a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Chris Cote.
Montclair would go in front in the third with five runs. Guarino and Moore scored off an errant throw on a McKenna bunt single to put the Red Hawks on top, 2-1. Jorden Jurkiewicz had an RBI single with Cosentino and Jurkiewicz coming home on a second error for the 5-1 lead.
Cote's RBI single in the fifth got the Lions closer, but Feaster answered in the bottom of the inning as Montclair led 6-2. The Red Hawks extended the lead in the eight with three runs. Cosentino tripled in two runs and Jurkiewicz lofted a sacrifice fly for a 9-2 advantage.
The Lions threatened in the ninth loading the bases with no outs. Oczkowski singled in a run for a 9-3 margin, but reliever Justin Silva struck out the next three hitters to end the game.
Righthander Nicholas Sefick (4-0) picked up the win in relief with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Feaster had two hits for MSU.
Montclair State is back in action on Thursday, April 21 with the first game of its home-and-home with local rival William Paterson. The Red Hawks are in Wayne on Thursday before coming back to Yogi Berra Stadium on Friday, April 22 with both games slated for 3:30 pm.