WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth clinched a top-two seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming MAAC Tournament with a sweep of Fairfield this afternoon. MU won the first game 4-2 behind a pair of home runs before walking off with a win on John LaRocca's (Plainview, NY/St. Dominic) sacrifice fly, 6-5.

The Hawks took the lead in opener in the fourth when Pete Papcun (Brick, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) launched a home run down the left field line to make it 1-0. The Stags answered with single runs in the fifth and sixth to take their first lead on run-scoring hits from Jack Gethings and Dylan Reynolds, but Kyle Norman (Ellicott City, MD/Good Counsel/Buffalo) hit his fourth long ball of the year to straightaway left field to knot things at two.

In the seventh, LaRocca doubled the other way leading off and went to third on an infield single. Pinch hitting, Clay Koniencki (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) chopped a double inside the third base bag to give the Hawks the lead before a sacrifice fly made it 4-2. Austin Counsellor (Salem, NJ/Woodstown/Gloucester CC) retired the final six Stags to secure the MU victory.

Fairfield jumped to a 3-0 lead immediately in the opening inning of Game Two, but the Hawks battled to tie in the third. Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) ripped an RBI single to center before Zach Schild (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) slashed a two-run double the other way inside the right field line to score two and make it a 3-3 game.

The Stage got single runs in the fourth and fifth, the second on a Kevin Radziewicz solo home run to take a 5-3 lead but Papcun's chopper inside third brought in two to draw the Hawks even again. In MU's first at bat of extra innings, the Blue and White filled the bases before LaRocca's sacrifice fly won the game.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"The first game was a good ballgame and we did a nice job. Klepchick did what we needed him to do and we made plays on defense. Counsellor continued to do what he's done all year for us." – Dean Ehehalt on the first game

"We were really resilient and we've been like that the whole year. We did a good job getting out of the first inning only down three. Ksiazek settled the game down and we were able to battle back." – Ehehalt on Game Two

-Monmouth clinches at least a share of its first regular season title since 2011.
-MU is guaranteed a top-two seed in the upcoming MAAC Tournament.
-Austin Counsellor earned the save in the first game and a win in the second contest.
-Monmouth has won 13 of its last 14 MAAC games.
-MU has swept a doubleheader in five of the last six weekends.
-Zach Schild posted his third three-hit game of the season.
-The Hawks posted their third walk-off victory this season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Joe Molettiere picked up his second win of the season in the opener, while Austin Counsellor picked up his fifth save.
-David Sacco took his third loss for Fairfield in the second game after Austin Pope took his third in the opener.
-Fairfield outhit MU 9-8 in the first game before the teams had nine hits apiece in Game Two.
-MU moves to 28-23 while Fairfield is now 22-29.
-Pete Papcun hit his team leading eighth home run of the season.
-Kyle Norman has homered in back-to-back weekends.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth wraps up the regular season tomorrow at noon with a chance to win the regular season title outright.