Game 1 / Game 2

Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (9-9, 1-1) opened up conference play on Sunday afternoon, with a doubleheader split against Montclair State (7-11, 1-1). The Ospreys took the first game 12-5 before falling 14-5 in the nightcap. Antonio Morello (Washington Twp./Washington Twp.) led the offense with five hits and four RBI on the day.
 
Game one was a taut affair with the teams battling for runs.The Red Hawks opened up the scoring by plating two runs in the top of the first before Stockton answered with a single tally. Montclair State put another marker up in the second inning and Stockton responded with two of their own to make it 3-3 after three frames.
 
The visitors took a 5-4 lead after four innings before Stockton finally wrested control of the contest. Two runs on one hit and an error gave the Ospreys a 6-5 edge after six frames that they would not relinquish. Stockton salted the game away by scoring six times in their last two at bats to give the home team a 12-5 victory.
 
Morello rapped out a perfect 4-4 with two RBI, with Nick LaPorta (Pompton Plains/Pequannock) also knocking in a pair of runs. Brandon Perna (Cherry Hill/Cherry Hill West) tossed the first seven innings allowing five runs, but no runs or hits after the fourth inning, for his third win of the season. Freshman Ryan Moore (Waldwick/Waldwick) earned his first career save with a perfect final two innings of work.
 
The nightcap was a different story as Ray Hughes (Forked River/Lacey Twp.) and Connor Lindsay hooked up a in a pitcher's duel through five innings. Stockton took a brief 1-0 lead after JJ Swentkowski (Egg Harbor Twp. /EHT) and Joe Pipher (Brick/Brick Memorial) were hit by pitches. A wild pitch advanced the runners before Morello scored Swentkowski with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 margin.
 
The Red Hawks plated two runs in their half of the fifth inning to take a 2-1 lead and then scored twice more in the sixth. With two runners aboard, Hughes was hit by a line drive to load the bases, and one batter later, a two-RBI single made it 4-1 and knocked the Osprey hurler from the game.
 
Montclair took over the game from there, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven times in the eighth inning. Stockton responded with four runs to cut the margin to 11-5 before the Red Hawks scored three more times in the final inning to set the final score at 14-5 and gain a split of the twinbill.

Swentkowski finished 2-3 with two runs and an RBI while James Wines (Hazlet/Raritan) was 2-3 with a run. Morello and Pipher contributed two RBI apiece.
 
Stockton will continue NJAC play on Thursday when they will face Rowan University in Glassboro. First pitch is set for 3:30 pm.