By: Mike Monostra
The bats were out of the closet early this baseball season, as Montclair State scored 35 runs in their opening three games of the season. The Red Hawks visited Piedmont College this past weekend. By falling in their opener to Denison, 10-8, before defeating NC-Wesleyan, 17-6, and Piedmont, 10-6, the Red Hawks gained a solid 2-1 start to their season.
“Our bats look great; especially for it being the first time we stepped foot on a baseball field since October,” right fielder senior Scott Evangelist said about the team’s offensive outburst.
Montclair State came out firing on Friday against the Denison Big Red, scoring four runs in the second inning; three of the runs came on a bases clearing double from junior catcher Mike Ercolano. The Big Red would charge back, tying the game up with two unearned runs in the third.
The tie held until the fifth inning, when junior center fielder Michael Boggi knocked a two-run double, giving the Red Hawks a 6-4 lead. After Denison scored one in the sixth inning, DH Kevin Bond’s homerun gave MSU a 7-5 lead at the seventh inning stretch.
The bottom of the seventh was a killer for the Red Hawks as the Big Red erupted for five runs — three coming on a home run from center fielder Drew Rice off reliever Giovanni Caraballo. This gave Denison a 10-7 lead, enough of a cushion for reliever Dan Kraus to hold. MSU would go down one-two-three in the ninth inning to take the loss.
Saturday against NC-Wesleyan would be the big day for the MSU offense, as they unloaded 17 runs off of the Battling Bishops. The Red Hawks opened up an insurmountable 11-0 lead through five innings. A triple by Bond, followed by a double by Boggi, gave the Red Hawks a 2-0 lead in the first. Then, in the third, a two-run homer from Evangelist and sacrifice fly from Boggi made the score 5-0. An Andrew Himmelfarb two-run triple helped trigger a four-run fourth inning, and the rout was on from there.
Offensively, the Red Hawks would total 17 hits. Evangelist went 2-3 with a double, home run and four RBIs. Himmelfarb was 3-5 with a triple and two RBIs, and Bond went 2-4 with a triple and two RBIs as well.
Montclair State’s offense was also helped by five shutout innings of pitching from starting pitcher Sean Hille. Hille allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out five in his first outing of the season. The relievers also got the job done, with four of the Bishops’ runs coming unearned in a meaningless ninth inning.
The Piedmont Lions, who were hosting the weekend’s set of games, didn’t give the Red Hawks much more of a challenge as MSU knocked them off 10-6 with another offensive fireworks display.
After the Lions took an early 1-0 lead, the Red Hawks tied the game in the second on an RBI double from shortstop Jay Bionde. They would take the lead in the third on a four hit outburst led by a double from second baseman Adam Bergman and a Boggi single.
The game remained close until the eighth inning, when the Red Hawks scored five runs, despite not having an extra base hit. Evangelist walked with the bases loaded, earning an RBI and making it a 6-1 lead to start the rally. A ground out from Ercolano would move all the runners up, scoring Bionde and moving runners to second and third with just one out.
After Bergman was intentionally walked, the Red Hawks scored on a wild pitch from Lion reliever Matt Collins, making the score 8-1. Singles from Mickey McGraw and Scott Glozzy gave the Red Hawks a 10-1 lead. Piedmont would put up five runs in a comeback attempt in the ninth, but with no avail.
“The key to our two victories was how focused our hitters were at the plate as well as our pitcher’s resilience on the mound,” said Boggi. “Our line up was able to put together good at bats and keep pressure on our opponents. Our pitching staff handled themselves very well and did a great job of letting opposing hitters get themselves out.”
On the weekend, the Red Hawks tied with Denison with a 2-1 record over three games, while NC-Wesleyan and Piedmont finished 1-2. For the Red Hawks, it was a big confidence builder with play in the tough NJAC only three weeks away.
“As a squad, we are very excited and eager to see how good we can be this year,” said Boggi. “As far as we are all concerned, with the talent we have, the sky is the limit.”
“Our lineup is feeling very confident, and we our looking forward to Saturday,” Evangelist said.
The Red Hawks will be Georgia-bound again next week, when they will go on a five game road trip beginning at LaGrange, Georgia on Saturday. Baseball’s home opener will be on Saturday March 20, when they will host a two game weekend series against Rensselaer. For a complete baseball schedule, log on to www.montclair.edu/athletics.
