STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Junior Pat Light (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) carried a perfect game into the eighth inning of the Monmouth University baseball team's 2-0 victory over Wagner College in game one of a Northeast Conference doubleheader, Friday afternoon. Light went the distance for the second-straight outing becoming the first NEC hurler in the last five seasons to register back-to-back complete games to begin conference play.
Light retired the first 21 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the sixth, before allowing a base hit to Hayden Hunter to begin the eighth. The righty induced a 4-6-3 groundball double play before Jayson Keel recorded Wagner's final hit of the contest. Nick Dini grounded back to Light to end the inning and the local product struck out Chris Smith, got Nick Alfano to line out, and caught Ian Miller looking to finish off his second-straight, nine-inning complete game. Light fanned 11, two shy of his career-best of 13 set last weekend against Fairleigh Dickinson, without allowing a walk in his first career shutout. The 6-foot-6 junior threw 102 pitches for 75 strikes while facing one more than the minimal number of 27 in his seventh career complete-game.
Owen Stewart (Howell, N.J./St. Rose) started the second inning off with a double to the right-center gap for Monmouth (12-8, 4-2 NEC). After Ed Martin (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan [Brookdale CC]) worked a walk, Chris Perret (Morris Plains, N.J./Morris Catholic) connected on a two-run double to give Light all the run support he needed.
The Seahawks (8-13, 4-2), whose head coach Jim Carone ('03) and assistant coach Chris Collazo ('09) are both former standouts for MU, received a complete-game effort from their starter, Ryan Van Spronsen. In the defeat, Van Spronsen allowed the Hawks' two runs on five hits, while striking out seven.
The Blue and White suffered a 9-2 setback in the night cap. Monmouth jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second on rookie Kyle Perry's (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) first career home run.
Wagner scored four runs on two hits, while taking advantage of wild pitch, in the home half of the third.
MU chipped into the Seahawks' lead in the fourth as Perry plated Perret, who doubled to lead off the inning, on a sacrifice fly, but Wagner answered with a run in the fourth, and three in the sixth to earn the victory.
Sophomore Andrew McGee (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) was tagged with the loss, allowing five runs on four hits over 3.1 innings. Neil Harm (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) yielded a run in 1.2 innings of relief, while Reid Van Woert (Johnson City, N.Y./Maine Endwell) and John McDonald (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan Catholic) combined to work the final inning out of the bullpen.
The Hawks and Seahawks will conclude the NEC series with a doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday. Game one is scheduled for seven innings followed by a nine-inning affair.
