LOUDONVILLE, N.Y.- Shaine Hughes (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) notched his fourth three-hit game of the season and second of the series, driving in three runs as Monmouth baseball came back to beat Siena, 7-5 on the road Sunday. MU used a four-run sixth inning to improve to 18-20, 10-8 in conference while Siena drops to 16-23, 9-6 in league.
“Our team showed a lot of toughness today,” said Head Coach Dean Ehehalt. “We were able to keep our poise after falling behind early, Robbie [Alessandrine] was really aggressive on the bases and created some offensive pressure that in turn, allowed us to score.”
Monmouth grabbed its first lead in the sixth inning with a four-run frame, with all of them coming after there were two outs and nobody on. Christian Holland (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) singled to third, and Cary Jacobson (Los Angeles, Calif./Palisades) walked, with Holland going to third on a pair of wild pitches. Holland scored when Robbie Alessandrine (Sewell, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) reached on an error, and Jacobson ended up stealing home on a play where Alessandrine broke for second and moved to third on a throwing error. Steve Wilgus (Woolwich, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) singled home the lead run, and Hughes plated another with an RBI single to put MU up by a pair.
Siena jumped out to a 4-0 lead on MU starter Anthony Ciavarella (Phillipsburg, N.J./Phillipsburg), getting three in the first on a three-run homer by Dave Hoffmann. The Saints tacked on a run in the second with another home, this one off the bat of Fred Smart for a solo shot and a 4-0 Siena lead.
The Hawks got two back in the fifth, when following an Alessandrine walk and a Wilgus single, Hughes drove in two with a base knock the other way. Siena trimmed the MU lead to 6-5 in the seventh, getting a run after Dan Swain singled and stole second, scoring on Justin Esquerra's double.
In the ninth, it was Hughes starting the rally with a double to right leading off. Dan Shea (Wilmington, Del./Salesianum) brought him around with a single to extend the Monmouth lead to 7-5, and Justin Andrews (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) worked around a pair of base hits in the ninth to earn his third save of the year, and Monmouth completed a series victory over Siena, taking the weekend set two games to one.
Ciavarella tossed five to get the win for MU, allowing four runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. Chris McKenna (Pine Beach, N.J./Toms River South) allowed a run on three hits in two relief innings, and Jeff Paglione (Mantua, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) fired a spotless, two strikeout eighth ahead of Andrews' ninth. Hughes was 3-for-4 with three RBI's, while Wilgus and Holland had two hits each.
Esquerra was 3-for-5 for Siena, and Hoffmann had two hits and three RBI's. Bryan Goossens started and worked 4.2 innings, allowing four runs, two earned and getting a no decision. Kyano Cummings took the loss after allowing four runs, none of them earned.
Monmouth is set for its final home games of the season next weekend when they play Saint Peter's on ESPN3. First pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is set for noon, while senior day is slated for noon on Sunday.
