WOMEN’S LACROSSE
The Montclair State women’s lacrosse team scored the first four goals of the second half to break open a close game and went on to defeat Muhlenberg, 15-9, foiling the Mules’ bid for a school-record fourth straight win.

After the Red Hawks (3-2) scored the first two goals of the game, Muhlenberg (3-2) crept back to within a goal three times, the last with 6:32 left in the first half on the second of sophomore Katie Reimann’s three goals. That made the score 4-3, and it remained so until Montclair scored four times in the first 9:16 of the second half.

Reimann’s hat trick was the third of her career.

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SOFTBALL
The Muhlenberg softball team’s run of games against the best in Division III ended with a doubleheader sweep (8-0 and 6-2) at the hands of defending national runner-up Moravian.

The Mules (6-7) have lost their last five games, all against teams ranked in the top 11 in the preseason poll.

Going up against a Greyhound (10-3) pitching staff that allowed only nine runs in the first 11 games of the season, Muhlenberg had difficulty generating any offense. In the first game, junior All-American Meagan Hennessy pitched a five-inning no-hitter.

Hennessy tossed the second game too, and this time the Mules managed five hits, three by sophomore Katie Olson. Junior Andrea Cohen singled in a run in the fourth and was brought in by Olson in the seventh.

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The victory clinched the Matte Award for Muhlenberg for the second straight year. The Mules have a 10-5 lead in the all-sports competition with just three contests (women’s and men’s track and field, men’s golf) remaining.

Hart’s two-run double in the third snapped a 2-2 tie and put the Mules (8-3) ahead for good. Their lead was just one run, at 5-4, before a five-run seventh inning.

Sophomore Pete Oris led off the seventh with an infield single to deep shortstop and circled the bases when the next three batters walked. Hegstrom then belted a 3-2 pitch into the gap in left-center for a bases-clearing triple that made the score 9-4.

One out later, Sasssman delivered a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to plate Hegstrom.

The Greyhounds (4-10) came right back in the bottom of the seventh to score three runs and had the bases loaded and nobody out when freshman reliever Paul Faith induced a 5-2-3 double play, with sophomore catcher A.J. Bettini turning it. The next batter flied out to leave Muhlenberg with a 10-7 lead.

Hart’s triple in the eighth knocked in Oris, who had doubled, to give the Mules an insurance run. Moravian scored twice in the ninth on a walk, error, hit batter and infield single, but Muhlenberg hung on for its fourth win in a row.

Sophomore Jason Bonder worked into the seventh inning to earn his second win of the season. Freshman Joe Carlo singled to extend his hitting streak to 11 and also made a diving catch in left.

The Mules are off to an 8-3 start for only the second time since 1978.

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