WASHINGTON, DC– Monmouth University's baseball team scored three runs in the first inning and got a quality outing from senior left-hander Anthony Ciavarella (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) to top George Washington on the road, 4-1 Sunday. MU improves to 4-8 with the victory while GW drops to 5-9.

"We bounced back today in a tough fashion," said head coach Dean Ehehalt. "Anthony Ciavarella and Joe Molettiere really gave us the boost we needed on the mound. Both guys pitched out of jams and made great pitches when needed."

MU came out of the gates with four base hits in a row from Grant Lamberton (Newark, DE/Salesianum), Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township), Dan Shea (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum), and Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory) with Shea plating the games first run and Gaetano bringing one around as well. Monmouth tacked on a third run when Ryan Bailey (Mount Kisco, NY/Fox Lane) grounded into a double play, and the Hawks exited the top of the first up 3-0.

Lamberton helped manufacture a second inning run after his second hit, swiping second and scoring on Hughes' second hit of the day to make it 4-0 Monmouth. Matt Cosentino singled home a run in the third for the Colonials to cut it to 4-1, the only run of the afternoon for the home team.

Ciavarella delivered six innings and allowed a run on seven hits with four strikeouts to earn the win. Freshman Joe Molettiere (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) tossed three shutout innings out of the bullpen to pick up his first career save, allowing four hits and fanning three. Hughes and Lamberton had two hits apiece for MU.

Robbie Metz took the loss for the Colonials, allowing four runs on six hits through two innings. Shane Sweeney delivered seven scoreless innings out of the bullpen, surrendering just a hit and a walk with five strikeouts. Joey Bartosic and Cosentino each added a pair of hits.

The teams wrap up their three-game series with a rubber game tomorrow at 1:00 p.m.