Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Katie Baron (Matawan, NJ/St. John Vianney) homered, doubled and drove in two and Justene Reyes (Carson, CA/Warren) added a pair of hits, including a three-run home run, but the Monmouth University softball team was swept by Marist, 5-4 and 8-3, Saturday afternoon at MU Softball Park. With the losses, Monmouth falls to 22-15 (9-3 MAAC), while the Red Foxes take over sole possession of first place in the league at 34-8 (9-1 MAAC).

Baron and Emma Hill (Rae, MO/King City [Highland C.C.]) had three hits each for the Hawks, while Reyes and Chloe Howerth (Roscoe, IL/Hononegah) added two hits apiece. Nicole Wieczorek (Oakdale, NY/Connetquot) chipped in with a two-run single in Game 1, while Ashalynn Umiamaka (Kapolei, HI/Kapolei [Eastern Arizona]) and Rachel Shotzbarger (Saugus, CA/Saugus) also tallied a hit.

Amanda Riley (Tracy, CA/John C. Kimball) took the Game 1 loss, allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits and four walks, while striking out one. Sydney Underhill (Temecula, CA/Chaparral) came on and hurled four innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits, while striking out two. Underhill started Game 2 and took the loss, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and a walk in four innings. She struck out two.

A pair of walks to open Game 1 came back to bite Riley. The sophomore hurler got the first two outs without harm, but Janna Korak doubled off the left field wall to score both base runners, making it 2-0 Red Foxes after a half inning. Marist would add three more in the top of the fourth. A single, an error on a would-be force play at second and a walk loaded the bases with no one out. Another error on the infield plated the Red Foxes' third run of the game, before Maureen Duddy's RBI single up the middle pushed the lead to 4-0. Claire Oberdorf's slow ground ball to first capped the scoring and left the Marist lead at 5-0.

Marist starting pitcher Jayne Oberdorf took a no-hit bid into the fifth, but following a walk to Riley, Baron homered to center to emphatically break it up and cut the deficit to 5-2. An inning later, the Hawks pieced together two runs, all with two outs. Reyes got things started with single, before Umiamaka reached on an error and Jill Freese (Oxford, PA/Oxford Area) walked to load the bases. Wieczorek then singled back up the middle to score two and cut the Marist lead to 5-4.

But after Underhill worked a scoreless top of the seventh, Marist pitcher Jessica Van Alphen pitched around a two-out single from Howerth to record the save.

The Red Foxes again plated two in the top of the first in Game 2. Claire Oberdorf and Kyrsten Van Natta each singled with one out before Oberdorf scored from second on an attempted 6-4-3 double play. Marist's Rebecca Freeman beat the throw to first before taking second on the throw home. Korak then singled to score Freeman, giving the Red Foxes a 2-0 lead.

Monmouth immediately responded in the bottom of the frame. Hill walked and Howerth singled, setting the table for Reyes, who homered to left center to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead after one. Following a scoreless second inning, Marist evened the score in the top of the third. A walk, a hit-by-pitch and a single loaded the bases, before a run scored on Gabrielle Kelleher's grounder to Umiamaka at third. The senior third baseman stepped on the bag for the second out, before throwing too late to first for a would-be double play.

The game remained tied until the Red Foxes broke the game open with five runs in the top of the fifth. Underhill allowed a leadoff double to Van Natta before being lifted in favor of Riley. The sophomore recorded the first two outs in succession before Colleen McWilliams hit a two-out RBI single to left for what proved to be the winning run. Three singles and walk later, the Red Foxes had scored four more runs to open up an 8-3 advantage.

Monmouth threatened in the bottom of the fifth. Hill laid down a bunt single with one out, took second on a groundout and attempted to score on Shotzbarger's infield single. Marist second baseman Claire Oberdorf dove to spear the hot shot up the middle and fired home to nab Hill at the plate for the final out. Baron and Hill both singled to put two on in the bottom of the seventh, but Duddy made a diving catch on Howerth's line drive to the right side and stepped on first for a game-ending double play.

The Hawks return to action tomorrow, when they play host to Siena. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 1 p.m. on ESPN3.