WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University baseball team split a Northeast Conference doubleheader with Wagner for the second straight day, topping the Seahawks in the first game, 7-5 before falling, 4-1 in the nightcap Sunday afternoon at the MU Baseball field to conclude their 2007 regular season. Monmouth ends the year 33-21-1 and 17-10 in the NEC, while Wagner ends up 17-34 and 11-17 in the league.
In the first game, senior Andy Meyers (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) broke a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth with an one-out, two-RBI double down the right field line that gave MU the final 7-5 decision.
Freshman Kyle Breese (Monmouth Junction, N.J./South Brunswick) pitched two innings of relief, allowing three hits and one earned run and striking out four, to pick up the win and improve to 3-4 on the year. He came on in relief of senior Matt Coulson (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Boro) who pitched well, going six innings and giving up seven hits and four runs, but only two were earned, to go along with three strikeouts. Junior Justin Esposito (Red Bank, N.J./Middletown North) pitched the final frame to pick up his ninth save of the season, moving him into fifth place on the MU all-time career saves list.
MU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a Justin Braun (Stony Brook, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) sacrifice fly that plated Shawn Teters (Springdale, Ark./Springdale). Wagner tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the third, but MU came back in the bottom of the frame Teters singled to right, scoring Kyle Messineo (Cedar Grove, N.J./Cedar Grove).
The Seahawks struck for two in the top half of the fourth to tie the game at 3-3, but MU answered again in the bottom of the fifth when Teters drove in Kyle Higgins (Green Brook, N.J./Watchung Hills) on an infield single and Messineo scored on a Kevin Payne throwing error the ball got away from Wagner first baseman Vin Avella to give the Hawks a 5-3 lead. Wagner then scored one run in each the sixth and seventh innings, which set up Meyer's game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth.
Higgins went 3-for-5 with two runs scored, Messineo scored three times and Meyers went 2-for-5 at the top of the MU lineup, while Teters went 4-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.
In the second game, Wagner's Matt Watson pitched a complete-game, seven-hitter to earn the win of the visitors. Brett Brach (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) started for MU and took the loss, falling to 3-6 on the year. He went five innings, allowing six hits four runs, three of which were earned and had two strikeouts. Matt Frazier (Whippany, N.J./Whippany Park) and Tim Ballard (Parlin, N.J./Sayreville) each threw one scoreless inning of relief for Monmouth.
Braun singled in Meyers in the bottom of the fourth to plate MU's lone run of the second game, but Wagner's Matt Mastrianni went 4-for-4 with a RBI and run and the Seahawks took the second game.
The Hawks return to action when they begin play in the 2007 Northeast Conference Baseball Championships, to be held on May 24-26 at New Britain Stadium in New Britain, CT. The championship consists of a four-team, double-elimination tournament comprised of six or seven games over three days. The top four teams based on regular season conference winning percentage qualify for the NEC Tournament.
MU, the third seed, faces second-seeded Mount St. Mary's on Thursday, May 24 at 3:30 p.m. This season, the Hawks and Mount split their four game series in Emmittsburg, Md.
