EASTON, PA – Monmouth University baseball scored 12 runs on 14 hits but it was not enough as Lafayette defeated MU 13-12 in a non-conference matchup Wednesday at Kamine Stadium in Easton, PA. MU is now 18-19 on the year. Grant Lamberton (Newark, DE/Salesianum) had five hits and four RBI's for the Blue and White.
Lafayette regained their lead with a three-run seventh, with Campbell Lipe and Michael Coniglio notching RBI singles and Steven Cohen coming home on an error to make it 13-11 Leopards. MU got one back in the eighth when Jordan McCrum (Dallas, PA/Dallas Senior) beat out an infield hit and Lamberton doubled off the wall in right center to cut it to 13-12, but the Hawks would get no closer as Ryan Callanan struck out the side in the ninth.
The Hawks took an 11-10 lead in the sixth, Monmouth's first lead of the game, when Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory) hit his second triple of the game and Clay Koniencki (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) drove him in to give MU the lead.
MU came back to tie the game with two runs in each the fourth and fifth innings, beginning the fourth with a Lamberton double down the left field line before Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) lined one to left that was ruled an error to make it 10-7 Lafayette. Koniencki lined a single to right to make it 10-8 before MU rallied for another pair to tie it in the fifth. Back-to-back walks and McCrum's sacrifice bunt made it second and third with one away before Lamberton singled one in and Robbie Alessandrine (Sewell, NJ/Gloucester Catholic)'s fielder's choice tied it at 10 in the top of the fifth.
Lafayette scored eight in the first two innings, going up 3-0 in the first with runs on a wild pitch, Luke Robinson's RBI double, and an error. MU responded with three in the top of the second to tie it, scoring when Gaetano hit his first triple of the day and Koniencki singled to bring him in. Lamberton followed with a two-run single up the middle to tie it at three before the Leopards got five in the bottom half. Cohen walked with the bases full to plate a run before Lipe knocked a grand slam to make it 8-3.
Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) hit a three-run homer in the third to make it 8-6, his third long ball of the season. Coniglio tripled home a Lafayette run in the third and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 10-6.
Kyle Ajjan (Chester Springs, PA/Downingtown East) got the loss for Monmouth, throwing 3.1 innings and allowing three runs, two earned. Joe Molettiere (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) gave up just one hit and no runs in 1.2 innings. Ari Kaufman threw 1.1 shutout innings for Lafayette to get the win, and Callanan picked up his third save.
Offensively, Lamberton went 5-for-6 with four RBI's while Papcun and Koniencki each drove in three, with Papcun joining Gaetano in scoring three times. Lipe drove in five for the Leopards, and he and Coniglio each had three hits.
MU is back on the field this Saturday for a doubleheader at Marist beginning at noon.
