RICHMOND, Va. – Dan Shea (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the ninth to give Monmouth a 7-6 comeback win over James Madison on Sunday in a game MU trailed 5-0 before a six-run fifth inning. The Hawks dropped the first game of the doubleheader to Minnesota, 8-4. The Hawks move to 2-10 on the season after today's action, while the Golden Gophers go to 6-8 and JMU moves to 9-6.
“Our team showed a lot of resolve today,” said Head Coach Dean Ehehalt. “We had a big inning in the fifth with multiple contributors, and of course, Dan Shea came through in clutch fashion. We kept getting base runners and our bullpen was excellent, especially Matt Littrell.”
Monmouth trailed JMU 5-0 after the Dukes scored four runs on seven hits against MU starter Anthony Ciavarella (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg) and added a fifth tally in the fifth inning off Adam Yunginger (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township), who allowed just that one run in two innings. Ricky Dennis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) surrendered a home run in his one inning, and freshman Matt Littrell (Bayonne, N.J./Marist) earned his first collegiate win with two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and facing the minimum.
Derek Shifflett allowed six runs on five hits through five after starting for the Dukes, and Tucker McCoy suffered the loss for JMU after giving up the winning run. Ky Parrott had two hits and two RBI's off the bench for James Madison.
Bobby San Martin doubled home the first JMU run, and Josh Wyatt and Michael Sciorra drove in runs in the third to make it 3-0. After adding single runs in the fourth and fifth, Monmouth responded with a monster inning to take the lead.
Freshman Justin Trochiano (Morganville, N.J./Marlboro) led the fifth inning off with a single, and Sean Arnott (Brielle, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy/Temple) and Tommy Gamble (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) followed with walks. Shaine Hughes (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) got MU on the board with a two-run single and Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) singled in another run. Dave Moreno (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) drove in a fourth run with a sacrifice fly to center, and after a walk to Shea, Ryan Bailey (Mount Kisco, N.Y./Fox Lane) singled home a pair to give Monmouth the lead and cap off a six-run frame that saw the Hawks bat around.
Parrott tied the game with a home run leading off the seventh, and neither team threated following that until the ninth. Gaetano singled to right leading off, and Moreno moved him to second with a successful sacrifice bunt. That set the stage for Shea, who drove the game-winner off the right field wall to give Monmouth its second win of the weekend.
In the first game against Minnesota, Monmouth starter Chris McKenna (Pine Beach, N.J./Toms River South) worked five innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts to take the loss. Freshman Mike Brambilla (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry East) came on to strike out four of the five outs he recorded in 1.2 scoreless innings, while Jeff Paglione (Mantua, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) turned in a scoreless relief inning also. Gaetano and Grant Lamberton (Newark, Del./Salesianum) both had multi-hit games, with Gaetano cracking his first career home run and scoring twice."
Dalton Sawyer earned the win for the Golden Gophers, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits. Reliever Jordan Jess gave up a pair of runs, and Tyler Hanson added a scoreless stanza. Leadoff hitter Dan Motl went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, and Matt Fiedler added three hits of his own.
The Golden Gophers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, scoring three in the first behind RBI hits from Toby Hanson and Matt Halloran. Monmouth answered in the third, scoring a run without a hit on a pair of Minnesota errors to cut the deficit to 3-1. MU threatened in the fourth, loading the bases with three-straight two-out hits but couldn't push a run across.
With one down in the fifth, Gaetano homered to right, his first career long ball and Monmouth's first home run of the season to cut the Minnesota lead to 3-2. The Golden Gophers regained a three-run advantage with a pair in the bottom of the fifth, knocked in by Hanson and Halloran. Minnesota opened up an 8-2 lead with three in the sixth, powered by RBI hits from Motl and Fiedler. Monmouth answered with runs in the seventh and eighth, scoring in the seventh after a Gaetano triple and an RBI single from Cary Jacobson (Los Angeles, Calif./Palisades). That would wrap up the scoring, with Minnesota winning 8-4.
The Hawks remain in Richmond, Va. to take on VCU once more on Tuesday afternoon, before returning to the northeast for a Wednesday matchup with St. Joe's in Philadelphia. For all info on Monmouth baseball, follow @MUHawksBaseball on Twitter.
