NEWARK, N.J. (April 18, 2015) – Montclair State University took a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) baseball games from Rutgers-Newark Saturday, winning the opener by a score of 14-2, and earning a 9-4 triumph in the nightcap.
 
With the wins, MSU improves to 14-14 overall and 8-6 in the conference. The Scarlet Raiders fall to 10-22 overall and 1-13 in the conference. Rutgers-Newark will return to action in Staten Island, N.Y. Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader against The City College of New York. Both games are seven innings with the opener slated for a 4:30 p.m. start.
 
Game 1
Rutgers-Newark took a brief 1-0 lead after one inning of play, as sophomore left fielder Josh Cote drove in junior center fielder Billy Taylor who led off with a single.
 
The Red Hawks answered in the second, getting four runs on four hits to take a 4-1 lead, and the Raiders came back to get within two (4-2) in the fourth inning on the third home run of the season from junior Cameron Dias.
 
The score remained the same until the top of the seventh when MSU scored four more to take an 8-2 lead. Sophomore Rich Burner and sophomore Phillip Scott each had two-run hits for the Red Hawks.
 
The guests added two in the eighth and four in the ninth for the final margin (14-2).
 
Rutgers-Newark totaled six hits in the opener, getting a 2-for-4 performance from Cote and a 2-for-4 performance from Dias. Taylor and junior shortstop Gerry Patrizio had the other Scarlet Raider hits.
 
Senior Shane Nolan suffered the loss (1-2). He allowed eight runs in 6.2 innings of work, striking out six. Senior Jonathan Torregroza went 8.0 strong innings for MSU, allowing two runs on six hits and striking out three.
 
Game 2
Rutgers-Newark struck first again in the second game, going on top 1-0 in the bottom of the first when freshman Danny Iannaccone drove in senior Dan Lopez with a two-out single to left field. Scarlet Raider starter Ryan MacFarlane was able to keep MSU off the board until the fourth when senior Mike Tolerico came through with two-run single.
 
Rutgers-Newark answered with a single run in its half of the fourth as freshman Dominick Fazio led off with a single and came around to score with one out on a Jeff Reinecke double to center field.
 
MacFarlane held Montclair St. scoreless through the seventh, allowing a single base runner in the fifth, retiring the side in the six and doing the same in the seventh.
 
However, in the eighth, Montclair scored four times to a take 6-2 lead, chasing MacFarlane in the process. The junior righty was charged with six runs, all earned, on eight hits and four strikeouts. He went 7.1 innings and suffered the loss (0-2).
 
The Scarlet Raiders came back with a pair of two out tallies in the eighth. Lopez singled and Reinecke followed with a base hit of his own to allow Iannaccone to come through with his second RBI hit of the game, a two-run double to center field.
 
The guests were able to extend the lead in the ninth to 9-4 and R-N was unable to get much going in the bottom half despite a pair of baserunners.
 
Iannaccone led a 10-hit attack for Rutgers, going 2-for-4 with three RBI's. Lopez was 2-for-4 with a run scored, and Reinecke was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
MSU was led by senior Christopher Reynolds who went 4-for-5 with four runs batted in and two runs scored.