WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Justin Trochiano (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) dropped a walk-off single into left to secure a 1-0 victory for the Monmouth baseball team (25-20, 15-5) in the second game of a doubleheader after Frank Trimarco (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) struck out 13 in a 9-2 MU win in the opener over Iona (8-34, 2-15). With the win, the Hawks become the first team to reach 15 wins in MAAC play.
"The two games were very different," said head coach Dean Ehehalt. "Good pitching, we played together and made some great plays on defense."
In a pitcher's duel in the nightcap in which the Gaels left six runners aboard and Monmouth four prior to the final inning, Iona put runners on the corners with one away on a fielder's choice and a base hit from Vinny DeMaria that kicked off the second base bag. Joe DeMaio came up with one out in a scoreless game and lifted a fly ball to left that Dan Shea (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum) settled under. Niko Switalla tagged, and Shea delivered a perfect throw to Clay Koniencki (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) who delivered the tag to cut down the lead run.
Robbie Alessandrine (Sewell, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) was hit in the shoulder leading off, and Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) lined a single to right center to put runners on the corners with no outs. After a ground out made it second and third, Trochiano dropped a single into left to score the winning run and secure the 1-0 victory.
Ricky Dennis picked up his team-leading seventh win of the year, tossing a complete game shutout with five strikeouts, five hits and two walks. Joe DeRosa took the loss, while Trochiano and DeMaria were the only players with multiple hits.
"Game two was a classic pitching duel," said Ehehalt. "Thankful for us that Ricky Dennis dug in and made some big pitches when needed. Dan Shea threw a strike to the plate in the seventh which gave us a boost. We scratched and clawed in the seventh and then Trochiano came up big for us. The pitcher from Iona threw a great game and we took advantage of our opportunities."
MU scored in six of the eight innings they hit in during the opener. The Hawks opened the scoring in the first inning of the opening game when Grant Lamberton (Newark, DE/Salesianum) lined the first pitch off the wall in dead center field for a leadoff triple. Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory) lined a sac fly to left to put the Hawks on the board.
Shea drove a triple to the same spot as Lamberton's to score a pair in the third, and Gaetano scored him with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0. The Blue and White plated two more in the fourth when Lamberton lined a two-run single to right center after Matt Byrne hit a solo homer in the top of the inning to get Iona on the board.
The Hawks scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh, getting a Gaetano RBI single in the fifth and a Trochiano run-scoring fielder's choice in the sixth. Gaetano added a sac fly in the seventh to make it 9-1 before Iona added a run in the ninth on a bases loaded walk.
Trimarco was stellar, tossing 7.2 innings and striking out 13, walking one and allowing one run. Bill Maier took the loss for Iona, giving up eight runs, six earned, on nine hits. Shea was 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI's, while Gaetano drove in four and Lamberton knocked in two. Two Gaels had multiple hits.
"Frank Trimarco was excellent from the go and it allowed us to relax some," added Ehehalt. "Our lineup functioned well as well as manufacturing runs in multiple innings which was huge. It was nice to see Gaetano get RBI's in big spots as well."
The teams wrap up the weekend series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. with a single nine-inning game.
