WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University baseball team fell, 19-11 to Sacred Heart in its series opener with the Pioneers on Friday afternoon. The Hawks drop to 19-17 and 8-5 in the Northeast Conference with the loss, while SHU improves to 16-20-1 overall and 7-5 in the league.
MU had a 6-2 lead entering the top of the sixth inning, but Sacred Heart scored 15 runs over the three innings to take control of the contest.
The Hawks struck for three runs in the bottom of the second, which began when catcher Bobby Dombrowski laced a single down the left field line, plating Chris Collazo for MU's first run. Freshman Josh Boyd came through one batter later when he lined a two-run single to center, scoring Mike Casale and Dombrowski.
SHU answered with a pair of runs in the top of the third when shortstop Phil Tantillo lifed a two-run double to right center, scoring Hunter Phillips and Frank Bainer. Monmouth came back and tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the fifth, paced by back-to-back run-scoring doubles from Paul Bottigliero and Casale, to give the Hawks a 6-3 lead.
Starter Kyle Breese gave way to righty Steve Sanguiliano with one away in the top of the sixth, and the Pioneers would take a 8-6 lead after the frame. Their big blow came courtesy of a bases-loaded triple from lead-off batter Mike Drowne.
The Hawks tied the contest up at 8-8 after Nick Pulsonetti drove a sacrifice fly to center and Niederhaus drove home Ryan Terry with an RBI single. Sacred Heart regained the lead at 10-8 after Jeff Heppner drove a 2-1 fastball over the left field fence for his ninth homer of the season with one away in the seventh. Drowne logged his second triple of the game, this time driving in two runs, to increased SHU's lead to 13-8 with two away in the seventh.
Boyd helped the Blue and White cut into the Pioneers lead with a two-out, RBI triple over the right fielder's head in the seventh inning. Monmouth would add another run when Boyd scored on a Sacred Heart error to trim the Pioneer's advantage to 13-10. SHU added on four more runs in the frame to boost its lead to 17-10.
Starter Kyle Breese worked 5.1 innings, giving up six hits and six earned runs. The junior lefty struck out six and only walked one batter in the game. Sanguiliano, who took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the season, pitched 1.1 innings, giving up eight hits and seven earned runs. Jonathon Shippee pitched .2 of an inning, giving up two hit and an earned run, while Matt Frazier pitched a scoreless .2 of an inning. Stephen Prosapio finished the game, allowing two unearned runs in the final frame.
Boyd went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the game, while Niederhaus went 2-for-3 with two run driven in. Collazo added a 2-for-5 day at the dish with two runs scored, while Terry and Dombrowki also each crossed home twice.
Monmouth returns to action tomorrow when it hosts Sacred Heart in a league doubleheader. First pitch is set for 12:00 pm.
