Little Falls, NJ (4/20/08) – Senior centerfielder Maureen Shockley (Magnolia, NJ / Triton) had two hits and drove in a run in the first game to help Montclair State extend its winning streak to 26 in the opener, but sophomore Kiersten Schramek (Brewster, NY) scattered eight hits in the second contest as Manhattanville ended the Red Hawks streak as the teams split a doubleheader at the MSU Softball Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

MSU took the opener 8-2 before suffering its first game in a month with a 3-1 loss to the Valiants. The split left Montclair 33-3 while Manhattanville is now 12-20 overall.

Junior lefthander Kelly Karp ( Edison, NJ / Edison) moved to 14-0 on the season as she allowed six hits and two runs with four strikeouts. Samantha Howe ( Wappingers Falls, NY) took the loss to fall to 4-8.

The Valiants jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Trina Ramsdell ( Newtown, CT) and Kathryn Moore ( Pearl River, NY) collected infield single and each stole bases before Amanda Nonis ( Brampton, Ontario) blooped a base hit into right field for the game’s first run. Montclair State responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Shockley singled with one out and Jennifer Jimenez ( Linden, NJ / Linden) and Megan Durkin ( West Orange, NJ / West Orange) each walked to load the bases. Freshman Kacie Neurouter ( Wayne, NJ / Wayne Valley) received the third straight bases on balls to force in a run and Karp helped her own cause with an RBI fielder’s choice as Montclair led 2-1.

MSU added three more runs in the second on RBI’s by Shockley and Jimenez. Durkin singled home a run as the Red Hawks went up 5-1 and Shockley’s run-scoring double in the fourth pushed the lead to five. Manhattanville got a run back in the fifth on an RBI ground out by Alexa Chebetar (White Plains, NY) but the Red Hawks got run-scoring singles from Leslie Gonzalez (North Bergen, NJ / North Bergen) and Neurouter in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively to complete the scoring.

Shockley, Gonzalez and Jackie Ferranti ( Bergenfield, NJ / Bergenfield) had two hits apiece for Montclair.

In the second game, Schramek struck out one and kept Montclair off the scoreboard until the fifth inning as she also struck out one in improving to 2-4.

Meanwhile, Manhattanville snapped a scoreless tie in the third with a run. Ramsdell singled to opening the inning and moved to second on a ground out before scoring on Moore’s base hit to right field. Chebetar added an RBI single in the fourth and Ramsdell scored on an error in the fifth as the Valiants boosted their lead to 3-0.

Montclair State would get its only run in the bottom of the fifth as Jimenez stroked a RBI double, however Schramek retired seven of the final eight batters to hand the Red Hawks their first loss since a 5-3 setback to Allegheny in Orlando, FL on March 20.

Ramsdell and Nicole Oliva (Hopewell Junction, NY) each had two hits for the Valiants while Jimenez was 3-for-3 for the Red Hawks.

Montclair State returns to action on Tuesday, April 22 as the Red Hawks take on local rival William Paterson in an NJAC doubleheader in Wayne at 3:00 pm.