2016 NJAC Baseball Championship Central | Box Score | Montclair State Recap | TCNJ Recap

UNION, NJ --- Junior designated hitter Matt Long drove in five runs while righthander Donald Cusick tossed a complete game as fifth-seeded Montclair State upended No. 2 seed The College of New Jersey, 11-4 in the NJAC Baseball Championship at Kean University's Jim Hynes Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Peter Pena had two hits and two RBI for the Red Hawks (21-18), who now advance in the tournament and face No. 3 seed Ramapo College in Mahwah, NJ on Thursday, May 5 at 3:30 pm. MSU will look to avenge two losses to Roadrunners from earlier this season.

Avenging a pair of losses is exactly what MSU did to the Lions on Wednesday as Montclair dropped a doubleheader at TCNJ on Saturday. The Red Hawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second. Playing in between the misty rain, Philip Scott and Keith Murphy opened the inning with singles and moved up a base on a ground out. Scott came home on a wild pitch and after a walk, Pena singled scoring Murphy for a 2-1 lead. Two batters later, Long singled back through the middle for two more runs.

The Lions (28-9) answered with two runs in their hald on a balk and ground out and then tied the game in the third inning when Zach Shindler homered to right with a runner one.

But that would be it for TCNJ's scoring the rest of the way as Cusick fired six scoreless innings to close out the game. A Second-Team All-Conference selection, Cusick (3-1) retired five of the last six hitters to finish off his second complete game of the season. The righthander struck out five and gave up nine hits. Brandon Zachary (6-2) took the loss for TCNJ. 

After  New Jersey tied the game, MSU went back on top in the fourth. Ryan Long singled with one out and Matt Long was hit by a pitch. Both moved up on a balk with Ryan Long scampering home on a wild pitch for a 5-4 advantage.

Montclair State broke the game open in the fifth with four runs. Pena singled home the first and Ryan Long delivered another with a base hit making the score 7-4. Matt Long hit a sacrifice fly with an error allowing the final run to score for a 9-4 Montclair State lead.

The Red Hawks added their final two runs in the ninth as Matt Long doubled to right center with two outs scoring Ryan Long and Justin Epifanio.

Matt Long went 3-for-4 for Montclair State with Ryan Long, Murphy and Pena each getting two in a 12-hit attack.