RICHMOND, VA – In the first game of the Spider Invitational in Richmond, VA, Monmouth was defeated by Yale 11-4 on Friday afternoon. The Hawks led after five before a big sixth inning propelled the Bulldogs to victory. Ricky Dennis (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) struck out a career-best seven in his fifth start of the season.

Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) lifted a sacrifice fly in the first to get MU on the board, and after Yale tied it, John LaRocca's (Plainview, NY/St. Dominic) RBI ground out gave MU in the lead in the third. After five innings, MU held the 2-1 advantage.

Yale rallied to take the lead with a five-run sixth, started by tying the game with three singles in a row. The Bulldogs would score four more in the inning, all of them unearned, capped by Alex Boos' RBI single to go up 6-2. Yale added four in the seventh, to extend the lead to 10-2, as Griffin Dey knocked in his third run of the day in the eighth to cap off the Yale scoring.

Monmouth got a pair in the ninth, scoring twice on bases loaded walks. Colin McCreary (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) scored in the inning after recording his first career hit.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"Today was definitely a tale of two games. We didn't do a very good job of collecting outs in the middle of the game and it definitely hurt us.  Credit goes to Yale; they are a really impressive defensive team and made all the plays. Ricky pitched well and certainly deserved better." – Dean Ehehalt

-Kyle Norman posted his fifth mutli-hit game of the season and has now reached base in every game.
-Colin McCreary collected his first career hit and run scored in the ninth inning
-Brandon Taylor picked up his first career RBI in the ninth.
-Aidan Favia pinch hit and picked up his first base hit of the season.
-Ricky Dennis' seven strikeouts tied a career high (April 10, 2016 at Saint Peter's).
-Ryan Lillie made his season debut on the mound.
-James Kelly posted his first scoreless outing of the season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Yale's 11 runs are the third most given up by MU this season.
-Yale outhit Monmouth 12-9.
-Monmouth's nine hits came from eight different players.
-The Hawks fall to 4-9, while Yale is now 3-9.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth plays again at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, and will face Lehigh in the Spider Invitational.