NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Monmouth University Baseball (23-26-1, 10-10) picked up a pair of critical MAAC wins on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader at Iona College (12-36, 6-14). The Hawks needed 13 innings to win Game One by a 6-2 score, and took the nightcap 6-1.
The first game saw Iona take a 1-0 lead on a Michael Gorman RBi single, a lead they would hold until the top of the sixth.
Kyle Norman (Ellicott City, MD/Good Counsel/Buffalo) doubled with one away and scored on
Clay Koniencki's (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) single before
Johnny Zega's (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) infield base hit gave MU a 2-1 lead. The Gaels scratched back the run in the seventh when Brian Picone knocked one home with a base hit to tie things at two, where it would stand until the 13
th.
After MU got out of a second and third jam in the 12
th, an error and a single put two aboard, and a wild pitch had the Hawks set up with a runner in scoring position. Zega's sac fly gave Monmouth the lead, and
Danny Long (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) made it 4-2 with an RBI single. The Hawks padded the lead on
JP Walsh's (Spring Brook Township, PA/North Pocono) two-run single, and Iona went quietly in the bottom half to secure the Game One win.
Long's RBI double in the second got the Hawks in front early, but the home team got it back in the fourth on a ground out. The Hawks then were able to put up a five-spot in the sixth, with
JD Andreessen (Depew, NY/Lancaster/Campbell) lining a sacrifice fly to put the Hawks in front. Long drove in another run to make it 3-1, and Walsh knocked another two-run single to break it open, making it 5-1. The Blue and White added a final run on a bases loaded walk and locked down the final six outs to sweep Iona.
NOTES AND QUOTES
"Solid day today. The pitching was tremendous and the defense played excellent. Our persistence paid off in Game One and we were able to manufacture runs with timely hits and ran the bases well. In Game Two we hit the ball hard and broke through with a big inning. We have been working hard to get back in the hunt for postseason. We still need to play well and keep playing good baseball." – Head Coach
Dean Ehehalt
Game One
-The Hawks moved to 4-3-1 this season in extra-inning games.
-
James Kelly matched his season-long outing, tossing six innings.
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Ryan Lillie posted his eighth scoreless outing in 16 appearances this season.
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Johnny Zega notched three hits, his third such game this year and second time in three games.
-This marked Monmouth's first trip to Iona since 2015.
Game Two
-Monmouth won its fifth in a row, the longest winning streak of the season.
-Hawks pitching came from a pair of freshmen, and they combined to allow just two hits, the lowest for MU allowed in a game this season.
-The two hits is the least allowed since March 10, 2018 at Delaware when MU gave up two hits.
-MU moved back to .500 in MAAC play at 10-10 for the first time since the second weekend of conference play.
-
Mason Miller has not allowed a run in eight of his 14 appearances this season.
-Both of Iona's hits in the game were doubles.
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Danny Long posted his 10
th multi-hit game of the season.
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JP Walsh now has seven multi-RBI games, tied for second on the team.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
Game One
-Monmouth outhit Iona 12-8
-
Nick Houghton earned his second win of the year with 2.1 scoreless relief innings.
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Ryan Lillie also contributed 4.2 shutout relief innings out of the bullpen.
-Each team left nine runners on base.
-Iona made both of the games errors.
-Antonio Velardi gave up the lead run in the 13
th to take his third loss for Iona.
Game Two
-MU outhit Iona 6-2.
-The Gaels made all three of the errors in the game.
-
Rob Hensey fell short of qualifying for the win, but still fired 3.1 two-hit innings, allowing one run.
-
Mason Miller tossed 3.2 spotless innings save for a single walk to earn his second victory.
-Chris Dodrill took the loss, allowing five runs in 5.2 innings.
UP NEXT
-Monmouth and Iona wrap up the three-game series tomorrow afternoon at 12:00 p.m. in New Rochelle, NY.
