Second-ranked Montclair St. blanks two, inclu No. 4 Cortland

[jonriv]

Montclair State
Last Updated - Mar 10, 2014 20:52 EDT
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RSS WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Senior third baseman Dana Amato tied a single-game record with seven RBIs in the first game while senior righthander Alex Hill fired a two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in the second game as Montclair State upped its record to 4-0 with pair of shutout victories in the Rebel Spring Games on Monday.

The Red Hawks, who have posted shutouts in all four games thus far, blanked Muskingum 10-0 early in the morning before winning an early season showdown between top-five teams with a 3-0 triumph against 2013 NCAA runner-up Cortland State.

Amato went 3-for-4 against the Muskies in the first game as she tied the single-game mark set by Pam Troyano in 1971 and equaled by Jackie Ferranti in 2006 versus New Jersey City. Senior catcher Alisha Cumberton collected a pair of RBIs for MSU, which exploded for nine runs in its last two at bats.

Amato gave the Red Hawks 1-0 lead in the third inning with an RBI single that score Tara Petrucelli, who opened the inning with an infield single.

Montclair State then blew the game open in the fifth with five runs. Sophomore Jaclyn Allegretta singled with one out and Brooke Powers walked with both scoring on Amato's double to right-centerfield making the score 3-0. Hill walked with the bases loaded to force in another run and Cumberton delivered the final runs with a single into centerfield that scored Melissa Rustemeyer and pinch-runner Sam Camacho.

The Red Hawks' final four runs in the sixth inning came on one swing of the bat from Amato, who drilled a grand slam to center field for her first round-tripper of the year and the 27th of her career.

Hill earned the first of her two victories on the day as she allowed just four singles, struck out seven and walked three.

Against the Red Dragons, Montclair jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning taking advantage of a pair of Cortland errors. Powers led off with a single and came all the way around to score the game's first run on Rustemeyer's double off the left field fence. A throwing error on Melany Zeller's ground ball allowed Rustemeyer to score the second run.

That turned out to be all the scoring Hill would need as she improved to 3-0 with her third shutout. She walked one and faced only two threats by the Red Dragons. The first came in the second on a leadoff double, however, Hill retired the next three, including the final two by strikeout to end the threat. In the sixth, Hill had first and second with one out, but got a strikeout and fielder's choice on the next two hitters.

Montclair State would add an insurance run in the sixth inning as Rustemeyer singled back through the middle scoring Lauren Guillen for a 3-0 MSU advantage.

Rustemeyer finished 3-for-3 at the plate while Powers had two hits for MSU.

[3'sDad]

JR: My brorther watched Montclair St play for a bit yesterday while my neice's team had a break between their morning & afternoon games. The Red Hawks are going to be tough this Spring.

[jonriv]

They always seem to be tiough. Wh does your nice play for?

[3'sDad]

Neice is a sophomore at Washington College - Centennial Conference.