BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Monmouth University baseball team split a Northeast Conference doubleheader at Long Island University on Saturday afternoon, rallying for a 9-7 victory in game one, and falling 2-0 in the nightcap. With the split, the Hawks stand at 15-18 overall and 9-10 in league play.

In game one, the Hawks rallied for seven runs in the final two innings to erase a 7-2 deficit for the win. Trailing by five, Monmouth pulled within 7-5 with a three-run sixth frame and pulled in front with four runs in a decisive seventh inning, as Bobby Dombrowski's sacrifice fly gave the Hawks the lead.

The Blackbirds grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on a sac fly and inflated the advantage to 4-0 in the third on five hits, all singles off Monmouth starter Kyle Breese.

Monmouth cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth when Ryan Terry led off with a double and crossed on a Nick Pulsonetti groundout, and registered a run on consecutive LIU fielding errors.

In the bottom of the fifth, LIU moved the lead to five runs with a three-run frame, as the Blackbirds notched a score on a passed ball, and back-to-back solo home runs from Drew Walsh and Derek Stupski made the score 7-2.

In the top of the sixth, singles from Terry and Pulsonetti put runners at the corners before Mike Casale delivered an RBI single, cutting the lead to 7-3. Dombrowski then followed with a run-scoring double and Danny Avella's groundout trimmed the edge to 7-5.

After reliever Nick McNamara stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, the Hawks notched four runs on three hits and an error in the top of the seventh. Monmouth loaded the bases with no outs to open the frame, in front of Jamie Rosenkranz's two-run single, which tied the score, while Dombrowski's sac fly pushed the Hawks ahead 8-7. Monmouth made the score 9-7 when Rosenkranz stole third and crossed home on a throwing error on the play.

McNamara (1-1) earned the win for the Hawks, working 2.0 scoreless innings of relief. Breese tossed 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits. Chris Perret allowed a run on three hits in a third of an inning.

Terry went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Dombrowski drove in three scores.

In game two, the Blackbirds scored single runs in the first and sixth innings in the 2-0 victory, while freshman Justin Topa one-hit the Hawks with 12 strikeouts.

LIU put runners at the corners in the top of the first and Chris Kievit's fielder's choice pushed a run across for a 1-0 lead off Monmouth starter Pat Light.

Gerard Tingos' solo home run to lead off the sixth, doubled the LIU lead to 2-0.

Dombrowski's infield single in the fifth inning was Monmouth's lone hit in the game.

Light (1-5) worked 6.0 innings for Monmouth, allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts.

Monmouth and Long Island are scheduled to play the final game of the Northeast Conference series on Sunday at LIU Field.