WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Monmouth University baseball team got scoreless frames from five different pitchers, but dropped a non-conference game to Wagner, 4-1 on Tuesday afternoon at MU Baseball Field. The Hawks record moves to 6-13, while Wagner improves to 3-16 on the season.
T.J. Hunt (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) got the loss for MU, going two innings and allowing two runs on four hits. Jake Gronsky (Danville, Pa./Danville Area) added two hits and drove in MU's only run, and Jon Guida (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) went 2-for-3 with a run scored. For the Seahawks, Danny Marsh started and tossed the first 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and walking one, earning the win. Paul Mammino threw 4.2 innings, giving up a run on two hits, striking out four. Nolan Long got the five-out save, allowing two hits in the process.
The Seahawks struck immediately in the first, when Nick Mascelli singled up the middle and Chris Smith hit a double down the left field line. Nick Dini drove in the first run with an RBI single through the left side, and Brendan Benecke added to Wagner's lead with a base knock through the left side. Hunt settled down and hurled a 1-2-3 second inning, striking out two.
Chris McKenna (Pine Beach, N.J./Toms River South) came on to pitch a perfect third, and Jeff Singer (Riverton, N.J./Gloucester C.C./Holy Cross) followed suit with a flawless fourth. Adam Yunginger (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) allowed a leadoff double to Zack Yesko to dead center in the fifth, before a pair of wild pitches allowed Yesko to come around and score. Another leadoff double in the sixth against Anthony Ciavarella (Phillipsburg, Pa./Phillipsburg) off the bat of Nick Dini put Wagner in position to add an insurance run, and Benecke's second run-scoring hit of the day brought Dini around.
Freshman Ricky Dennis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) hurled a scoreless seventh, and Stephen Frey (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) matched that by setting the Seahawks down in order in the eight. The MU bats came alive in the eighth, when Guida placed a double perfectly into right center, scoring when Gronsky ripped a line drive single to right. The Hawks got a strong inning from Jeff Paglione (Mantua, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) in the top of the ninth, allowing only a walk, and put two runners on in the ninth before Long retired two in a row to end the game.
MU baseball returns to action this weekend at Saint Peter's, beginning with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday in Jersey City, N.J.
