Glassboro, NJ (5/7/11) – The Montclair State softball team will now have to play the waiting game after the second seeded Red Hawks were bumped from the New Jersey Athletic Conference Softball Championship by No. 3 seed William Paterson, 2-1 at the Rowan University Softball Field on Saturday.

Montclair (27-10) will now wait to see if it is one of the teams selected for the NCAA Division III Softball Championship which gets underway next Thursday, May 12. Selections will be announced on Monday, May 9.

Right-hander Michele Graham (jr. Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne) pitched a complete game for the win.  She (14-5) gave up seven hits and one earned run.  Righty Alex Hill (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany Hills) allowed two earned runs on five hits in the loss.  Hill (17-5) totaled seven strikeouts.

William Paterson second baseman Lindsey Nadolny (sr. Belford, NJ/Middletown N.) was two for two at the plate and had one run scored.  Right fielder Heather Mendez (sr. Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge) and designated player Jessica Warner (fr. Runnemede, NJ/Triton Reg.) each contributed with one hit (three at bats) and one RBI.  Mendez also scored one run.   

Montclair State catcher Heather Bergman (Berkeley Heights, NJ/Governor Livingston) went two for three with a double and one RBI.  Designated player Kelli O’Brien (Edison, NJ/Edison) produced two hits in three trips to the plate.  Left fielder Shannon Mozek (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley), right fielder Stephanie Szeliga (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) and Hill each had one hit.  Third baseman Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ/Pascack Valley) scored one run. 

The Red Hawks led 1-0 after the first inning.  Bergman recorded a RBI double, scoring Amato who had reached base on a fielder’s choice.  The Pioneers took the lead in the bottom of the fourth.  Nadolny led off with a single down the right field line.  She went to second on a sac bunt.  Mendez plated Nadolny with a hit to center field.  Warner followed with a double and Mendez scored the winning run.