CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA– Monmouth University's baseball team came back from down 9-0 with a seven-run eighth inning, but was ultimately defeated by No. 8 Virginia in 11 innings, 11-10 Saturday. The Hawks got four RBI's from freshman Clay Koniencki (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) and four hits from Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory).
Trailing 9-0 in the seventh, MU mounted a two-out rally when Koniencki singled home two runs to get Monmouth on the board. After a pitching change, Robbie Alessandrine (Sewell, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) brought home another to make it 9-3.
The Hawks bats awoke in the eighth, sparked by Cary Jacobson (Los Angeles, CA/Palisades) knocking home the fourth run with a base hit. Koniencki then made it 9-6 with a two-run single, and with the bases full after a pitching change, Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) walked to force in another run. Dan Shea (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum) tied the game on a two-run single, and the Hawks took the lead with their 10th unanswered run on a Gaetano RBI single.
Virginia tied the game with two outs in the ninth on a misplay by MU at first base to send the game to extras. In the 11th, Kevin Doherty drove home the game-winning run with a base hit to propel the Cavaliers to the 11-10 win.
Virginia used five separate RBI singles to put together a seven-run second inning, and Daniel Pinero capped the inning with a two-run double and the Cavaliers made it 7-0 after two. The home team added two in the sixth on a sacrifice fly and an error to go up 9-0.
Gaetano led MU with four hits and Koniencki drove in four runs, while Shea and Hughes also had multi-hit games. Freshman Jordan McCrum (Dallas, PA/Dallas Senior) threw three shutout innings in relief for the Blue and White, and Mike Brambilla (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) took the loss.
Bennett Sousa pitched the 10th and the 11th and earned the win for Virginia, while Pinero had a four-hit day for the Cavaliers.
The teams wrap up the weekend set tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in Charlottesville, VA.
