NEWARK, DE – Monmouth's offensive busted out for 15 runs and Ricky Dennis (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) fired six strong innings as MU beat the University of Delaware on Friday afternoon 15-2. MU collected 15 hits, with five Hawks recording multiple hits and Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) and Ryan Steckline (Newark, DE/Appoquinimink) driving in four runs apiece.

Monmouth jumped all over UD starter Nick Spadafino, with the first four batters of the game reaching. After base hits from Kyle Norman (Ellicott City, MD/Good Counsel) and John LaRocca (Plainview, NY/St. Dominic), Hughes launched a three-run homer over the right field wall to stake the Blue and White to a 3-0 lead before Delaware recorded an out.

UD answered with a pair of consecutive hits in the bottom of the first to make it 3-1, but Dennis settled in and didn't allow another hit until there were two outs in the fifth. The only batter to reach in that span came on an error.

Monmouth broke the game open in the fifth, scoring six times in the frame to extend the lead to 9-1. LaRocca perfectly placed a single into center field to score a run, and Steckline lined a single the other way to plate two more. MU then added another three runs on a bases loaded walk, a fielder's choice and a double steal.

Vinny Vaccone doubled home a run for the Blue Hens in the sixth, but Dennis stranded a runner at third to end the inning. After the first three Hawks in the seventh got aboard, Justin Trochiano (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) ripped a two-run double to deep left to make it 11-2.

The Blue and White added four in the ninth, including a long Steckline two-run double to left center, as Austin Counsellor (Salem, NJ/Woodstown) earned his first save of the year in locking down the final three innings.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"It was a really good day for our guys. Tough conditions, wind blowing out and Ricky pitched really well… you can't get any better than Ricky did today, he was awesome. It was nice to see him bounce back, he was on the attack this week and you could tell he was in a pretty good rhythm. He made some real good pitches early in the game on neutral counts and full counts. That's a good hitting team right there and he did a great job." – Dean Ehehalt
"We stress quality at bats all the time and we had three of them to lead off the game and Shaine staked us to a 3-0 lead which gave us some breathing room early. We then had eight or nine good ones in a row in the middle of the game, it was a good thing to see." – Dean Ehehalt

-Shaine Hughes homered for the second game in a row.
-Hughes now has three home runs on the season, the most on the team.
-Hughes drove in four runs for the sixth time in his career, and first time since 2016.
-John LaRocca notched his first hit of the season and first multi-hit game since May 16, 2017 at Seton Hall. It was his third career multi-hit contest.
-Ricky Dennis picked up his first win of the year and first since February 24, 2017 at Furman.
-Dennis tied a season low with just one walk allowed.
-Kyle Norman runs his streak of reaching base to 10, every game this season.
-Ryan Steckline drove in four runs, a career-high, with three hits, also a career-best for the freshman.
-MU scored double-digit runs for the second time this season.
-Seven of nine MU starters recorded a hit.
-Ryan Byrd recorded his team-leading second stolen base of the season.
-Byrd drove in a run for the second time in three games.
-All nine Hawks that started either scored a run or recorded a hit.
-Justin Trochiano hit his first double since April 11, 2017 at Columbia, also the last time Trochiano drove in multiple runs in a game.
-Trochiano drove in three runs for the second time in his career, and first since April 30, 2016 at Quinnipiac.
-The win snapped a Delaware four-game winning streak, and was the Blue Hens' first home loss of the season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Ricky Dennis worked six innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
-Austin Counsellor fired three shutout innings, striking out three to earn the save.
-MU outhit Delaware 15-6 on the day.
-Monmouth has won two in a row for the second time this season.
-The Hawks improve to 4-6, while Delaware falls to 6-5.

UP NEXT
-The series at Delaware continues tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in Newark, DE.