Baseball

Feneis, Mattonelli Shutout Montclair State, 4-0

Little Falls, N.J. (4/18/07) - Junior righthander Colin Feneis (Spotswood, N.J.) and sophomore righthander Brandon Aich (Sayreville, N.J.) combined on a six-hit shutout while sophomore leftfielder Dan Mattonelli (Hamilton, N.J.) drove in three runs as No. 5 Kean University blanked Montclair State, 4-0 in New Jersey Athletic Conference baseball action at Yogi Berra Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The game, originally scheduled for Thursday, April 12 in Union, was postponed twice before being moved to Montclair State.

The victory was the Cougars fifth straight and 14th in the last 15 games as Kean improved to 22-4 on the year, 9-1 in the NJAC. Kean also avenged its only league loss this season, a 2-1, 10-inning defeat at the hands of the Red Hawks at Yogi Berra Stadium on March 29.

Rob Bowness (Sprata, N.J.) was 1-for-3 with a double for Montclair State, which fell below the .500 mark at 13-14 overall, 6-5 in the NJAC.

The Red Hawks were unable to break through against Feneis, who pitched out of two bases-loaded jams, including one in the first inning. With two outs, Jeff Miller (Wyckoff, N.J.) walked and Andrew Vicaro (Randolph, N.J.) singled. After a wild pitch, Bowness was intentionally walked to load the bases however Feneis fanned the next hitter to escape the inning.

Kean then got the only run it would need in the bottom of the inning. Maikel De La Rosa (Newark, N.J.) led off with a walk and moved to second on ground out before coming around to score as Mattonelli slapped a single through the right side of the infield for a 1-0 Cougar lead.

Kean would add to the lead in the third against Montclair starter Tim Stringer (Annandale, N.J.) with three runs. Joe D'Andrea (Hamilton, N.J.) singled and stole second before De La Rosa drew a walk. Ryan Clark (Livingston, N.J.) sacrificed the runners over and both came home as Mattonelli, who was 2-for-3, laced a single down the left field line giving the Cougars a 3-0 advantage. Perry Schatzow (Ocean Township, N.J.) drove home the final run with a single.

In the fourth, Montclair State threatened again, loading the bases with no one out on a bunt single by Marc Palestina (Paramus, N.J.), a fielding error and a walk. But Feneis worked his way out of the jam without any damage as he retired the next three hitters to keep Montclair State off the board. The Red Hawks stranded 12 runners in the game and were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

The next inning Kean's defense provided the highlight as MSU was again denied a scoring opportunity. After Miller walked to open the inning, Bowness doubled down the left field line. Mattonelli made a perfect relay to Schatzow, who then fired a strike to catcher Derek Gianakis (Edison, N.J.) for the put out as Kean kept its four-run lead in tact.

Feneis would go 6 2/3 innings allowing five hits, striking out five and walking six as he upped his record to 3-0. Stringer (2-5) suffered the loss allowing four runs and five hits in five innings. Aich gave up a hit over the final eight outs (2 2/3 innings), striking out three.

Kean will host Rutgers-Newark in an NJAC matchup on Thursday, April 19th at Jim Hynes Field at 3:30 p.m.