BASEBALL OUTLASTS NIAGARA TO WIN SERIES OPENER, 8-6

Box Score WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- In a rain-filled afternoon at MU Baseball Field, Monmouth beat Niagara in the series opener Saturday afternoon 8-6 behind 16 strikeouts from the pitching staff and runs in the sixth and eighth innings. Ben Hoffman (Berlin, NJ/Voorhees) earned his third win in a row for the Blue and White.

MU jumped to a 5-0 lead, scoring in the first three innings to take the early advantage. Dan Shea (Wilmington, DE/Salesianum) started the scoring with a triple to the opposite field and came home on an errant throw to third to make it 2-0, and Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) singled home a pair in the second to extend it to 4-0. A fifth run via a Niagara error made it 5-0 after three.

Niagara struck for a pair in the fourth before MU got one back on Chris Gaetano (Madison Township, PA/Scranton Preparatory)'s sacrifice fly, making it 6-2. A pair of MU errors in the sixth opened the door, and the Purple Eagles notched four hits in the inning, capped by Peter Battaglia's bloop single to tie the game at six.

Danny Long (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) led off the sixth with a base hit and moved to second on a ground ball before scoring on an error to put the Hawks back up, and Monmouth relievers retired the final 10 Purple Eagles to lock down the win.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"Every inning is an inning within itself, and Niagara is a good team. They battle, they're versatile and they put pressure on us. We responded by making some great plays later in the game." – head coach Dean Ehehalt on the win

"Something we've stressed is execution. We have a high-powered offense but we sometimes lose our ability to manufacture so I was happy to see that unfold today." – Ehehalt on MU manufacturing runs (Hawks scored on two sacrifice flies, put down three sacrifice bunts)

-Ben Hoffman has picked up the win in Monmouth's last three victories, and is now 3-0 this season.
-MU moves to 4-1 in MAAC series openers this season.
-Jordan McCrum struck out a career-high 10 batters, the most for a Monmouth pitcher this season.
-The Hawks have won two in a row overall against Niagara.
-Joe Molettiere picked up his first save of the season and fourth of his career.
-Monmouth pitchers retired the final 10 Niagara batters, and set the Purple Eagles down 1-2-3 four times on the day.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU pitching (McCrum 10, Hoffman 5, Molettiere 1) fanned 16 Purple Eagles, the most for Monmouth in a game since 17 at LIU Brooklyn on 4/27/12 (Light 15, Harm 1, Loiodice 1).
-Danny Long collected the fifth multi-hit game of his freshman season.
-MU outhit Niagara 9-7.
-The Hawks were 5-for-8 leading off innings.
-Conversely, Niagara was 1-for-9 to start an inning.
-Long scored three times for the first time in his career.
-Dan Shea hit his second triple of the season, with the first coming at Columbia on 4/11.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth and Niagara conclude the weekend series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at noon on ESPN3.

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Players Mentioned

#22 Chris Gaetano: OF; 6' 3"; Freshman

#12 Pete Papcun: IF/OF; 6' 0"; Freshman

#27 Ben Hoffman: P; 6' 1"; Junior

#33 Jordan McCrum: IF/P; 5' 10"; Freshman

#17 Joe Molettiere: P; 6' 1"; Freshman

#2 Danny Long: IF/P; 5' 11"; Freshman

#25 Dan Shea: OF; 6' 2"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#22 Chris Gaetano
: 6' 3"; Freshman
: OF

#12 Pete Papcun
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: IF/OF

#27 Ben Hoffman
: 6' 1"; Junior
: P

#33 Jordan McCrum
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: IF/P

#17 Joe Molettiere
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: P

#2 Danny Long
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: IF/P

#25 Dan Shea
: 6' 2"; Senior
: OF