WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – JD Andreessen (Depew, NY/Lancaster/Campbell) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10^th inning to force home the winning run and give Monmouth a 2-1 victory over Princeton Thursday. Tyler Ksiazek (South Abington Township, PA/Abington Heights) and Ryan Lillie (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township/Rhode Island) combined to strike out 11, walk zero and not allow an earned run.

Princeton got on the board in the first when Chris Davis singled, stole second and went to third on an errant throw down. Conor Nolan grounded out to plate the unearned run, the only one Princeton would score. Monmouth got it back in the fifth, with consecutive singles from John LaRocca (Plainview, NY/St. Dominic) and Matt Graber (Newton, MA/Dexter) before a sacrifice bunt moved them over. Justin Trochiano (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) came through with a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game.

MU pitching retired 10 in a row throughout the middle to the end of the game before a ninth inning hit by pitch. The Hawks recorded a strikeout in eight of the 10 innings on the day, and posted four clean innings on the afternoon. In the 10^th, Johnny Zega (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) drew a walk after falling behind 0-2 as a pinch hitter, and Danny Long (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) followed with a four-pitch walk. Shaine Hughes (Sewell, NJ/Washington Township) grounded one to first that was fired to second, but Princeton was off the bag and everyone was safe to fill the bases with one down. Andreessen was hit with the first pitch he saw to force in the winning run and give MU a 2-1 win.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"You really don't expect to be held to three hits during the week but Tyler Ksiazek and Ryan Lillie were excellent. Those guys combined to hold Princeton to one run and strike out 11 guys. They were the story of the game, without a doubt. Ksiazek has that in him, we've seen him do that in the past and were glad to see it this afternoon. He works hard and was rewarded today." – Dean Ehehalt

"We played good defense and we were opportunistic. Johnny Zega drew a huge walk in the bottom of the 10^th, fouling some pitches off after going down 0-2 in the count and figuring out a way to work a walk. We created some pressure after that and we were fortunate to get one and come out on top." - Ehehalt

-Monmouth has now won six straight over Princeton.
-Monmouth struck out a batter in eight of the 10 innings.
-Tyler Ksiazek tied a career high with seven innings pitched, doing so for the third time.
-Ksiazek was one strikeout shy of tying a career-high, fanning eight.
-JD Andreessen picked up his first walk-off RBI as a Hawk.
-Monmouth is now 3-0 in games that the pitching staff does not allow a walk, having done so twice in the last three games.
-MU tied a season-low with three hits, and have won both of those games.
-Monmouth did not allow an earned run for the fourth time this year, and are 4-0 in those games.
-MU sweeps the season series with Princeton, not allowing an earned run in 19 innings against the Tigers.
-Danny Long extended his reached base streak to 20 games, the longest this year for Monmouth. It is the longest streak for a Hawk since the 2016 season, when Shaine Hughes posted a 24-game stretch and Grant Lamberton reached base in 22 games in a row.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth was outhit 5-3.
-Brendan Galvin led Princeton with two hits.
-Ryan Lillie picked up his second win of the year to move to 2-0.
-Eric Rojas took the loss for Princeton.
-Jack Anderson threw six innings and allowed one run for the Tigers as the starter.
-The game was played in two hours, 30 minutes.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth goes back into MAAC play on Saturday with a doubleheader at noon at Saint Peter's.