WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Baseball (7-13-1) used stellar pitching to defeat Wagner College (6-14) on Sunday afternoon, 6-2 before falling to Seton Hall University (6-12) in the second game of a doubleheader, 12-2. Danny Long (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) had three hits for MU in the second game after Rob Hensey (Campbell Hall, NY/Goshen) picked up his first career win in the opener.

MU got on the board immediately against Wagner, with JP Walsh (Spring Brook Township, PA/North Pocono) scoring when Zach Schild (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) got himself hung up between the bases long enough for Walsh to plate a run before the out was recorded.  Max Goione (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven/Siena) singled in a second-inning tally, and Johnny Zega (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) produced a sacrifice fly to stake MU to a 3-0 lead. Hensey did not allow a hit until the fifth.

Wagner's Mike Ruggiero lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth to get Wagner on the board, but Schild singled in a run and JD Andreessen (Depew, NY/Lancaster/Campbell) contributed a sac fly to make it 5-1. Ruggiero drove in Wagner's second run in the seventh with a base hit, answered by Schild's sac fly in the bottom half while Hensey and Ryan Steckline (Newark, DE/Appoquinimink) combined for eight strikeouts, keeping Wagner from getting any closer in the 6-2 win.

Tyler Shedler-McAvoy homered in the first to stake Seton Hall to a 2-0 lead, but MU got one back in the second after consecutive doubles to the gap from Brandon Taylor (North Smithfield, RI/LaSalle Academy) and Long. SHU and Monmouth traded runs in the third and fourth, the Hawks' tally coming on a Walsh sacrifice fly, before Christian Del Castillo made it 4-2 Pirates with a line shot to center in the fifth.

Seton hall broke it open in the sixth, using three hits and a pair of MU errors to plate five runs. Shedler-McAvoy had an RBI double in the frame, and Del Castillo hit a two-run home run to cap it. SHU's Thomas Holdorf doubled home a run in the seventh and hit a two-run homer in the eighth to close out the contest.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"We certainly made the most of our opportunities early in the game by manufacturing runs. That's been something that we've talked about a bunch and it was nice to see us score in four of the first five innings. We held serve there and Rob Hensey did a great job, we're really happy with his progress. It was a solid game on our part." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt on Game One

"Against Seton Hall, it was a 4-2 game in the middle and we let it slip away. We couldn't make a play and they capitalized. It was nice to see Danny Long starting to swing the bat well but we took a good game in the middle there and let the leadoff guy on and made an error and the floodgates opened." – Ehehalt on Game Two

Game One
-Kyle Norman extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
-Rob Hensey picked up his first career win.
-Of five freshmen pitchers to debut this season for the Hawks, Hensey is the first to earn a win.
-Ryan Steckline picked up his second save of the season, and now has two of the Hawks' four saves.
-Zach Schild posted his seventh multi-hit game of the season.

Game Two
-Danny Long posted his second three-hit game of the week, also doing so vs. Longwood.
-Kyle Norman's 11 game hitting streak was snapped.
-Brandon Taylor hit his first extra base hit of the season, a double, and second of his career.
-Taylor scored both MU runs in the game after being hit by two pitches.
-Michael Dimino struck out two, his third appearance with multiple strikeouts.

NUMBERS CRUNCH

Game One
-Monmouth pitchers racked up eight strikeouts in the game.
-Six Hawks contributed seven total hits for MU.
-MU outhit Wagner 7-5.
-Each team left five runners on base.
-Hensey did not allow a hit until the fifth and finished with six IP, allowing a run on two hits with 5 K's.
-Steckline allowed a run on three hits in three innings with three K's.
-McCae Allen took the loss for the Seahawks with two runs allowed in two innings.

Game Two
-MU was outhit 14-6.
-The Hawks left 12 runners on compared to eight for SHU.
-James Kelly took his second loss, allowing seven earned runs in 5.2 innings.
-David Festa earned the win for Seton Hall, throwing four relief innings and surrendering just three hits.

UP NEXT
-MU is back in action on Tuesday against Hofstra at 3:00 p.m. in West Long Branch.