Sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring five runs in the first inning, Montclair State University (N.J.) pounded out 18 hits in all and cruised to a 10-3 win over Allegheny College (Pa.) in an elimination-round game of the NCAA Division III College World Series Monday afternoon at Fox Cities Stadium.

With the win, Montclair State (40-7-1) remains alive in the hunt for the national title. The Red Hawks will face either the University of St. Thomas (Minn., 35-12) or Chapman (Calif., 33-11) on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m., in the double-elimination tournament. 

If unbeaten St. Thomas (3-0) eliminates Chapman (2-1) with a win in Monday night’s 7:30 p.m., game, Montclair State (2-1) would have to beat St. Thomas twice (3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday) to win the national title, while St. Thomas would only have to win once. If Chapman tops St. Thomas Monday night at 7 p.m., Montclair State and Chapman would play at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday for the right to face St. Thomas on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the national title. St. Thomas secured at least a second-place national finish with its 4-3 win over Allegheny earlier on Monday.

With its two losses Monday, Allegheny is eliminated from the tournament and finishes its season 38-10 overall.

Montclair State starter Scott Allan, making his second start of the series, struck out a season-high nine Gator hitters in a complete-game effort to claim the victory. Allan started Saturday’s 5-0 win over Emory (Ga.), but was forced to leave the game in the fourth inning after developing a blister on his pitching hand.

“I know I wanted the ball,” Allan said. “I wanted to pitch again, but I wasn’t sure how it would be possible. Yesterday and last night, it (the finger) was still bleeding. This morning, it was still bleeding a little bit. I wanted the ball. There was no way I was going to get out of the World Series just pitching three innings when we’re still here. I had to suck it up a little for myself, for my team, and just go out there.”

“He convinced me that, when you want the ball, there’s something to be said for that,” said Montclair State coach Norm Schoenig. “Sometimes you can take all the statistics and all the matchups and put it aside and get after it. And that’s what he did. He did a great job in terms of going all nine (innings). I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, but we’re certainly in a better position for tomorrow by using one starter for nine than we would be if we had to use multiple pitchers.”

Montclair State erupted for five runs in the first inning, taking advantage of seven hits – including a run of six in a row. A three-run, bases-clearing double by Chris Baran was the biggest hit of the frame, as 10 batters reached the plate against Allegheny starter Rob George.

“That (first) inning definitely set the tone,” Baran said. “You come out with killer instinct. We pretty much put them away, I thought, after the first inning. They did chip away, but even after that we came back with a few runs. We answered the two runs they had in that one inning.”

“We continually talk about finishing somebody off, having the killer instinct offensively, defensively, on the mound, on the bases, you can win a game a number of ways. We got out of the gate real good,” Schoenig said.

The Red Hawks claimed two more runs in the fourth, when Craig Conway nailed a two-run home run to left-center field after a leadoff double by Frank Longo. Conway’s blast was just the third home run in the 13 games of the College World Series.

“We have confidence in our offense, complete confidence,” Conway said. “The first game, we only scored one run, but we knew we’d be all right. The way we’ve been swinging the bats just shows how our offense can be.”

Two more runs came across in the eighth, when Marc Houser singled and scored on a double by Longo. Longo then came across to score on a double by Conway, his second extra-base hit of the game. Another run was scored in the ninth, when Frank Francia reached base on a double and scored on a single by Allan.

Allegheny scored twice in the third inning. Tug Ollock reached base on a double, then came around to score on a base hit by Mark Minadeu. Mindaeu scored on a double by Brad Hensler. Another run came across in the ninth for Allegheny, as pinch-runner Alan Clouse was plated on a single by Joe Kacsanek.

The one thing I can attribute to this team is what our coach said earlier today, is that we’re one of the scrappiest bunch of guys he’s ever seen. That’s one thing, we never give up,” Hensler said. “I really can’t say that anybody ever quit. I think you could see, further into the game we got, we were getting run down and a little disgruntled. But I think we still tried to claw our way back.

George took the loss, allowing seven runs (six earned) in three-plus innings of work, in just his second start of the year. Adam Oshnock relieved him and pitched well, retiring seven batters in a row in one span in his five innings. Nick Paolini finished the game for the Gators.

“When you get down 5-0 in the first inning, that hurts you, and they hit the ball hard. We just didn’t,” said Allegheny coach Mike Ferris. “We couldn’t get the pitching performance out of our starter that we had hoped. It was only his second start of the year. He was a relief pitcher all year. He pitched a great game in the regional, but you still don’t know. It’s tough, I guess, for someone who has limited experience starting, to ask him to repeat that. Obviously, it didn’t happen.”