Ewing, NJ – Junior left fielder Peter Cosentino blasted a pair of home runs and drove in five as Montclair State blanked The College of New Jersey, 9-0 in the first game of a home-and-home series at Ackerman Park on Thursday afternoon.
Lefthanders Ben Levine and Brian Reiss combined on the six-hit shutout as the Red Hawks (9-3, 1-2 NJAC) snapped a six-game losing streak to the Lions (x-x) winning for the first time since an 11-4 victory in the 2016 NJAC Baseball Tournament. MSU also registered its first shutout since March 23, 2019, an 8-0 win against Oneonta.
The two teams meet again on Friday, April 9 at Yogi Berra Stadium with first pitch set for 3:30 pm.
Cosentino gave MSU all the runs they would need three batters into the game. After a walk and force out at second, Cosentino jumped on the first pitch from TCNJ starter Tim Schumacher for a two-run homer over the left field fence for the 2-0 lead.
Levine (1-0) made that lead hold up as he maneuvered his way through the Lions' lineup for 6 1/3 innings allowing five hits with three strikeouts and a walk. He allowed just one base runner to reach third and that came in the bottom of the sixth. Joe Oczkowski led off with a single, stole second with one out and moved to third on a pop up. But Levine stranded him there getting the last of his three punch outs to end the inning.
That proved big as Schumacher settled in after the Cosentino homer and did not allow a hit after that departing in the eighth after walking the leadoff batter. The Red Hawks would got hitless in the inning but managed to scratch out two runs as Jason Moore and Joe Norton scored on an error extending the lead to 4-0.
Montclair State blew the game open in the ninth with five runs on three hits. Anthony Guarino delivered a single with the bases loaded driving in two as the lead jumped to 6-0. Four batters later, Cosentino did it again, this time a three-run shot to left for his sixth of the season giving the Red Hawks a nine-run cushion. It is the second time Cosentino has registered a multi-homer game this season as he hit three against Cabrini in the season opener on March 7.
Reiss finished off MSU's first shutout of TCNJ in five years with a scoreless ninth for his first save of the year. The lefty got the final eight outs allowing a hit with three strikeouts and one walk.
Schumacher (0-2) took the loss giving up three runs (two earned) and just the one hit in seven innings. He fanned four and walked four.
Oczkowski had two of TCNJ's six hits in the contest.