JERSEY CITY, NJ – Monmouth baseball split a doubleheader with Saint Peter's on Sunday afternoon, winning the opener 4-1 before dropping the second game 8-7. Dan Shea (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum) homered in each game and drove in four in the opener, as MU moves to 17-14 and 7-2 in conference. SPU is now 5-22, 1-8 in the league.
Ricky Dennis (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) was stellar in the opener, tossing a complete game and allowing a run on two hits, striking out seven. Shea drove in all four runs, scoring Monmouth's first on a double to center after Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) walked and stole second. The Peacocks tied it in the second on Tommy Toole's fielder's choice.
Shea gave Monmouth the lead with a three-run home run in the sixth inning, hitting it out to center to cap his four-RBI day. Grant Lamberton (Newark, DE/Salesianum) was hit by a pitch and Hughes singled to right to start the inning before Shea's blast. Dennis retired the final six consecutively to lock down the Game One win. Shea went 2-for-3 with four RBI's and Dennis earned his fifth win of the year.
The second game saw Lamberton open the contest with a triple before Hughes brought him home with a base hit to make it 1-0. Mike Ionta tied it with an RBI single down the left field line in the last of the first before MU took a 4-1 lead in the second with a three-run inning.
Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory) singled leading off, and with one down, Clay Koniencki (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) doubled to center to make it 2-1. Justin Trochiano (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) pushed a single through the right side to make it 3-1, and Hughes made it 4-1 with a single to left.
Ionta hit a sacrifice fly to cut it to 4-2 in the third, and Jon Kristoffersen stole home to make it 4-3 shortly after. After a scoreless fourth, Shea homered again to make it 5-3 leading off the fifth. The MU lead extended to 7-3 after Hughes drove in two with a two-run single to left center.
James Spadaccini drove in a run in the seventh for SPU with a sacrifice fly before the Peacocks got four to take a lead in the eighth. After the first two were retired, Nick Cardamone struck out but the ball got away and he reached safely, allowing Saint Peter's to score four after that. Angel Perez tripled home Cardamone, and Kristoffersen tripled to bring in a second run. Ionta then gave doubled down the line to push SPU in front 8-7 in the bottom of the eighth.
MU threatened in the ninth, with Christian Holland (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) walking and Koniencki doubled to make it second and third. After two outs were recorded, Lamberton was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Hughes grounded out to end the game.
Mike Brambilla (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) took the loss for MU in the second game, while Anthony Ciavarella (Phillipsburg, NJ/Phillipsburg) threw six innings and allowed three runs, one earned, with six strikeouts. Hughes drove in four runs on four hits, and Koniencki had three hits. Kristoffersen had four hits, and Ionta drove in four runs. Jake Regina earned the win for Saint Peter's.
MU returns to the diamond Tuesday against Lafayette at 3:30pm at the MU Baseball Field.
