WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Baseball (6-12-1) dropped its home opener on Saturday afternoon to Wagner College (6-12), 13-4 at MU Baseball Field. Chris Hawryluk (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) threw 4.1 innings of relief for MU and did not allow an earned run.

Wagner jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a big second inning, plating the five with five hits and an error in the inning. The Seahawks tacked on three more in the third to take an 8-0 lead, with Brandon Hall and Sheamus Connolly each doubling home runs. MU got one back in the home third when Zach Schild (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) went the other way with a double to bring in the Hawks' first run.

The visitors added four in the fifth, including Anthony Pecora's two-run triple down the line to add to their lead. Monmouth got three back in the bottom half, scoring all three with a pair of bases loaded walks and a hit by pitch. Wagner added one run in the ninth to close out the 13-4 win.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"Early in the game we couldn't do anything to stop the bleeding. They went up big early and we couldn't make a play to keep the score down and then we had to fight back and were unable to do that. On a positive note, Chris Hawryluk had a great day, made the most of his opportunity and hopefully that can springboard him to some more meaningful innings down the road." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt

-The game marked the first between MU and Wagner since the 2014 season.
-Chris Hawryluk threw a career high 4.1 innings.
-Kyle Norman extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
-Clay Koniencki has a hit in five consecutive appearances, and posted his first multi-hit game of the year.
-Schild has hits in six straight games, and now has six multiple hit games this season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth was outhit 16-9.
-Monmouth was 4-13 with two outs.
-Nick LePre got the win for Wagner, throwing 4.1 shutout innings.
-Dan Klepchick took his second loss of the year for the Hawks.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth will play two tomorrow, beginning with a 12:00 p.m. first pitch vs. Wagner followed by a game against Seton Hall, a makeup of Friday's postponed contest.