ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Monmouth used an eight-run fourth inning to build an early advantage and saw its bullpen slam the door on the Mount's comeback bid in game one of the 2008 Northeast Conference Baseball Championship at Bernie Robbins Stadium in Atlantic City, N.J. The defending champion Hawks received six hits and six RBI from the fifth and sixth spots in the batting order to begin its repeat bid with a 12-7 victory over Mount St. Mary's.
Hawks' junior second baseman Chris Collazo enjoyed a 4-for-5 day at the plate with three RBI, while freshman designated hitter Nick Pulsonetti drove in another three runs as part of his 2-for-5 performance. The two first team all-NEC selections each received two at-bats apiece during Monmouth's fourth-inning explosion that resulted in eight runs, eights, and 13 batters coming to the plate.
Trailing 9-0, Mount St. Mary's finally broke through against three-time all-NEC starter Brad Brach in the top of the fifth inning. Junior outfielder Matt Staso stung a solo shot straight down the leftfield line to begin a five-run frame. All-NEC second team second baseman Matt Eiden followed with an RBI single before senior Josh Vittek launched a three-run bomb to left-center that cut the Monmouth lead to 9-5.
Vittek, the Mount's all-time Home Run King, was not done. He blasted a ninth-inning solo shot, his 41st career round-tripper, down the rightfield line in becoming the fifth player in the 16-year history of the tournament to produce a multi-homer game. The second of the two homers, his 17th of the year, made the all-NEC first teamer the all-time single-season long ball leader.
With one out in the top of the seventh and Monmouth holding an 11-6 lead, Vittek, Ryan Murray, and Kyle Kane produced three consecutive singles to load the bases and end Brach's afternoon. Sophomore reliever Nick Vallillo came on for the 2007 NEC Pitcher of the Year and needed only three pitches to escape the jam with back-to-back foul outs.
Not many teams have had success against Brach, who entered with a 7-2 record and 2.92 ERA, but the Mount seems to have the righty's number having beaten him 9-5 during a regular season meeting. Brach was on the winning side of the decision this time around, but labored through 6.1 innings of 11-hit, six-run ball.
The Mount put runners into scoring position during each of the first two innings, but Brach left them stranded by recording five of the first six outs via the strikeout.
Brach received some help from centerfielder Shawn Teters when his diving catch in right-center saved a run and prevented an extra-base hit in the top of the third. During the bottom half of the frame, Teters followed up the defensive gem by blasting the inning's first pitch over the leftfield fence to open the game's scoring.
After Pulsonetti's two-run triple and Collazo's RBI single opened the fourth inning for Monmouth, Teters led off the bottom of the inning. Senior catcher John Dennis sent a 3-2 offering over the left field fence to plate Collazo.
Monmouth advances to the winners bracket and will play #2 CCSU, an 8-4 victor over #3 Wagner in the second game. First pitch is set for noon.
