WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Monmouth University split a Northeast Conference doubleheader with Mount St. Mary's on Sunday afternoon. A day after sweeping the Mount, the Hawks rallied for a 6-4 win in game one, but fell 8-5 in the nightcap.
With the split, the Hawks improve to 10-14 overall and 6-6 in the NEC, while Mount St. Mary's stands at 12-16 overall and 7-5 in league play.
In game one, Monmouth erased a 4-0 deficit to corral a 6-4 victory, as the Hawks rallied with a six-run sixth inning in support of freshman Pat Light's first career victory. After tying the score with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, Josh Boyd laced a two-run double down the rightfield line for the winning runs.
The Mount notched an unearned run in the second inning as Andrew Caron's fielder's choice slow roller kept MSM out of an inning-ending double play and allowed Shane Eyler to score from third.
Monmouth escaped further damage in the inning when Josh Boyd delivered a one-hop strike from center to Bobby Dombrowski, who tagged out Caron trying to score from second on Mark Quaranta's single.
MSM tacked on another unearned run off Monmouth starter Pat Light in the top of the fifth to take a 2-0 lead, as a throwing error on a would-be inning-ending double play allowed Quaranta to score from first base.
Back-to-back singles opened the sixth for the Mount, and after Kyle Kane's sac bunt moved a pair of runners into scoring position, the Hawks intentionally walked Shane Eyler. With the bases loaded, Josh Winter bounced a ball to short but the throw home was late to get the force at home, making the score 3-0.
Still with one out and the bags packed, Caron drew a four-pitch walk to push the score to 4-0, before Light got Quaranta lined out to left and Helman to pop out to end the threat.
Ryan Terry started things off Monmouth's six-run home half of the sixth with a stand-up double down the leftfield line, and after Mike Casale was hit by a pitch, a failed pickoff attempt at second allowed both runners to move into scoring position.
The trimmed the lead to 4-1 when Jamie Rosenkranz reached on a throwing error, as Terry raced home, and Nick Pulsonetti drove in Casale with a single to left to cut the lead in half, which knocked MSM starter Kent Worthington from the contest.
After Danny Avella's groundout moved runners up, Monmouth climbed within 4-3 on Cal Costanzo's groundout, and knotted the score at 4-4 on Dombrowski's single to right, off reliever Mike Matta, setting the stage for Boyd's two-run double.
In the second game, the Mount broke through in the fourth frame, plating a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead off Monmouth starter Dan Smith, who worked an inning in Saturday's second game. Back-to-back one-out hits put two runners in scoring position before Caron's RBI grounder accounted for the first run. The Mountaineers then went ahead 2-0 on a wild pitch during Sam Nott's at-bat.
A pair of two-out singles put runners at the corners for the Mount in the top of the fifth, and Kyle Kane delivered a two-strike double to right center, giving MSM a 4-0 lead.
The Mount added three runs in the sixth off reliever Neil Harm for a 7-0 advantage.
Monmouth pulled within 7-1 in the bottom of the seventh as Costanzo led off with a single, advanced to second on a groundout, moved to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
After a lead-off triple from Josh Winter started the eighth, MSM went up 8-1 on Nott's sac fly.
The Hawks got the run back in the eighth when Casale delivered a one-out double and scored on Nick Pulsonetti's single, making the score 8-2. Avella then laced a two-run double to pull Monmouth within 8-4 and Dombrowski's run-scoring single trimmed the lead to three runs.
Smith (1-2) worked 5.0 innings in the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits, while Harm surrendered three runs in a third of an inning. Jonathan Shippee allowed a run in 1.2 frames, while Chris Perret tossed 2.0 scoreless frames the end the game.
Kapothanasis (2-4) earned the win behind 7.2 innings, while Buddy Fields picked up his first save of the season behind 1.1 scoreless frames.
Avella and Costanzo each collected two hits for the Hawks in game two, while Dombrowski, who caught all 38 innings of the weekend series, added a hit and an RBI.
Monmouth returns to action on Tuesday, April 13, when the Hawks travel to Princeton University for a non-conference contest at Clarke Field. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
