WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Clay Koniencki (Schwenksville, PA/Malvern Prep) and Colin McCreary (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) both homered, and Kyle Ajjan (Chester Springs, PA/Downingtown East) turned in seven solid innings as Monmouth University Baseball (20-26-1) topped Lafayette College (19-31) on Wednesday, 5-4 to close out the non-conference schedule.

The Hawks loaded the bases with nobody out in each of the first two innings, scoring a run in each frame. The first came across on Johnny Zega's (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) fielder's choice before a second scored on a double play ball. Koniencki launched his team-leading seventh home run of the year in the third, a solo shot to straightaway left, but Lafayette answered in the top of the fourth when Richard Villa singled home a run to trim it to 3-1.

McCreary lined his second home run of the season over the right field wall in the fifth, and Matt Graber (Newton, MA/Dexter) added another with a line-drive double into the left center field gap, making it 5-1. Lafayette threatened in the eighth and scored to make it 5-2, but Michael Dimino (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) came on and got a first-pitch ground out to strand the bases loaded.

The Leopards loaded the bases in the ninth with nobody out, and Ryan Steckline (Newark, DE/Appoquinimink) came on and allowed a two-run single to cut it to 5-4. With the tying run at third and one out, Steckline got a strikeout and a fielder's choice to close out the win.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"Kyle Ajjan was very good today, it was nice to see him give us that effort in a midweek game. We just got done with exams and got back from Buffalo so we haven't had a chance to practice too much this week so that was a typical showing after what we've been through. Kyle was excellent, made some pitches when he needed to and Mike Dimino came in and got a huge out in the eighth. Steckline came in and did a masterful job in the ninth, he's very capable of doing that every time. Offensively, we were able to score in five innings and hit some other balls hard right at people, and Matt Graber had a great two-strike hit later on. Hopefully we can use this to springboard into the weekend." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt

-Koniencki homered for the second game in a row, and extended his team lead to seven.
-McCreary's home run was the second of his career, and first at home.
-The Hawks matched their longest win streak of the season at three.
-MU completed its non-conference schedule today, finishing up 13-16-1 and 5-3 at home.
-Ajjan's seven innings tied the longest of his career, matching his 2017 complete game at Siena.
-Ryan Steckline saved his second straight game and now leads MU with five.
-McCreary now has eight multi-hit games this season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Each team totaled seven hits.
-Lafayette made the games only error.
-MU scored in five separate innings.
-Ajjan earned the win, allowing a run on three hits through seven with five K's.
-Steckline allowed a hit in the ninth and picked up his fifth save.
-Mark Anderson took the loss for Lafayette, allowing two runs in two innings.
-Villa had three hits and three RBI's for the Leopards.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth heads to Iona this weekend to open a MAAC series on Saturday with a noon doubleheader in New Rochelle, NY.