Little Falls, NJ (4/11/10) – Junior righthander Jack McDonough (Cranford, NJ / Cranford) threw eight shutout innings while sophomore leftfielder Mickey McGraw (Morristown, NJ / Morristown) went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI as Montclair State held off a ninth-inning rally by King’s College for a 6-2 victory at Yogi Berra Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Sophomore righthander Matt Rago (Berkeley Heights, NJ / Gov. Livingston) got the final out for his first save of the season as MSU posted its fourth straight win, upping its record to 13-7 on the year.

Senior first baseman Eric Matula (Cresco, PA / Pocono Mountain East) was 3-for-4 and drove in both runs for the Monarchs, who fell to 13-9 with the loss.

McDonough picked up his first win of the season (1-3) as he allowed just five hits, striking out two in his 90-pitch outing. Two of the those hits came in the first inning as the Monarchs put runners on first and second with two outs. Brian Mikus (Malvern, PA / Great Valley) lofted a ball into shallow centerfield that appeared as though it would drop in for a base hit. However, Andrew Himmelfarb (Nyack, NY / Nyack) made an over-the-shoulder, diving catch to end the inning.

McDonough would retire nine of the next 10 hitters he would face, but Montclair was unable to get to freshman lefthander Bobby Peron (Shavertown, PA / Lake-Lehman), who kept MSU off the board for the first four innings as well allowing just two hits over that span.

In the fifth, Montclair would break through. Jason Chesterman (Bloomfield, NJ / Bloomfield) drew a leadoff walk. Freshman Matt Moreno (Park Ridge, NJ / Park Ridge) hit a fly ball to center that eluded the fielder falling in for a double allowing Chesterman to score with the game’s first run. Moreno moved to third on a sacrifice and scored as McGraw bounced a single through the left side giving MSU a 2-0 lead. McGraw stole second and went to third on a ground out. He would score a Himmelfarb punched a single through the middle of the infield as Montclair took a three-run lead.

The Red Hawks would add a run in the seventh. Scott Glozzy (Hackettstown, NJ / Warren Hills) reached on an error to open the inning. Pinch-runner Michael Patterson (Piscataway, NJ / Piscataway) went to second on a balk and stole third. McGraw then dropped a single into right as Montclair State led 4-0.

Mike Ercolano (Vernon, NJ / Vernon) collected an RBI single and Brooks Miller (Berkeley Heights, NJ / Gov. Livingston) scored on an error in the eighth for the final MSU runs, however the Monarchs would make things interesting in the ninth.

Rob Fravel (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) walked and Matt Unger (Orangeburg, NY / Tappan Zee) was hit by a pitch. After an out moved both runners up, Matula singled through the right side cutting the MSU lead to 6-2. Pinch-hitter Mike Kusters (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) added another single to put runners at the corners as King’s got the tying run on deck. But Rago came out of the bullpen and needed six pitches for a strikeout as Montclair finished off the four-run victory.

Person took the loss falling to 1-1. He allowed six runs (four earned) and 10 hits in eight innings, striking out two and walking three.

Sophomore Kevin Bond (Cedar Grove, NJ / Cedar Grove) had two hits for the Red Hawks.

Both teams return to action on Tuesday, April 13 with non-conference contests. Montclair State is on the road in LaPlume, PA for a 3:30 pm matchup against Keystone College. King’s is back home in Wilkes-Barre, PA for a 4:00 pm home contest against Penn State-Abington.