WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Ricky Dennis (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) threw six effective innings and Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) homered for the third time in two games as Monmouth topped Canisius in the series opener on Friday afternoon, 4-2. Three Hawks had multiple hits in the game, and the Blue and White turned three double plays defensively in the win.

Canisius jumped out early to a 1-0 lead when Ryan Stekl doubled in the third. MU answered immediately, with Justin Trochiano (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) lacing a double down the line leading off. After a sacrifice, Kyle Norman (Ellicott City, MD/Good Counsel/Buffalo) singled back through the middle to tie the game. Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) later grounded out to plate a run, making it 2-1 Hawks.

Stekl drove in another run to tie the game in the fifth, but Dennis escaped trouble when Hughes made a diving play on a ball hit down the line. He stepped on third and delivered to first for an inning-ending double play to keep things tied.

A two-out single from Norman sparked MU to take the lead, as John LaRocca (Plainview, NY/St. Dominic) bunted for a base hit and the throw was errant, allowing Norman to come all the way around to make it 3-2 Monmouth. Papcun launched his third home run in two games in the next inning, and Austin Counsellor (Salem, NJ/Woodstown/Gloucester CC) and Jordan McCrum (Dallas, PA/Dallas Senior) combined to lock down Canisius in the final three innings.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"We've been working on having a presence and Ricky came through big. We left our feet a few times, Shaine made a big play and LaRocca made a big play and timely hitting and we got back to playing our style of baseball." –Dean Ehehalt

-Ricky Dennis earned his first home win since May 20, 2016.
-Zach Schild threw out two runners trying to steal.
-Pete Papcun has now homered three times in the last two games, and leads the Hawks with five long balls.
-Jordan McCrum picked up his third career save, and first since 2016.
-Justin Trochiano notched his fourth two-hit game of the season.
-Austin Counsellor lowered his ERA to 0.54 after throwing two scoreless innings.
-MU turned three double plays defensively on the day.
-The Hawks have won the series opener in both MAAC series this season.
-The game was Monmouth Baseball's first to be broadcast on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app this season.
-The game was played in 2 hours, 10 minutes, Monmouth's shortest of the season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU got six of its eight hits from the top four in the batting order.
-Ricky Dennis fanned four and gave up two runs in six innings.
-Charlie Sobieraski took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits, three earned through seven.
-MU is now 3-1 vs. Canisius in West Long Branch.
-Ryan Stekl drove in both Griffs runs.
-Each team is now 2-2 in MAAC play.

UP NEXT
-The Hawks and Golden Griffins will play a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at noon, with both games scheduled to air on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.