SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. ? Monmouth University, which was limited to three hits as a team, dropped a 7-1 decision at Seton Hall, on Wednesday night, in non-conference baseball action. The Hawks' third straight loss, drops Monmouth's record to 7-10 overall, while the Hall improves to 11-7.
Seton Hall grabbed a lead in the first inning, as A.J. Rusbarsky singled with one out, and later scored on Matt Smedberg's triple to right center. The Pirates pushed their advantage to 2-0 as Chris Affinito lifted a sacrifice fly, in the next at-bat, off of Monmouth starter Kyle Breese.
SHU increased the lead to 3-0 in the second as the Pirates capitalized on a lead-off walk and a two-out error.
Monmouth trimmed the edge to 3-1 in the third when Rick Niederhaus' groundout plated Josh Boyd, who led off the frame with a walk.
Affinito's solo home run with two outs, followed by an unearned run, inflated SHU's lead to 5-1 after three full innings.
The Pirates netted single runs in the fourth and sixth innings to claim the 7-1 victory.
Ryan Terry registered two of the Hawks' hits, while Chris Collazo's double was Monmouth's lone extra-base hit of the game.
Breese (1-2) suffered the loss for Monmouth, as the lefty worked three innings, allowing five runs on four hits. Matt Frazier surrendered two runs on four hits in his two innings of work, while Steve Sanguiliano and Jonathan Shippee tossed the final three, shutout frames for the Hawks.
Shippee, making just his second career appearance, worked a scoreless, hitless eighth frame with one strikeout.
Monmouth returns to action on Friday, March 27 when the Hawks start a three-game series with NJIT. First pitch at Riverfront Stadium in Newark, is set for 3 p.m.
