PISCATAWAY, NJ – Monmouth University Baseball (5-9) had three players with two hits each, but were held off by in-state foe Rutgers University (6-9) on Tuesday in Piscataway, 5-2.
 
The Scarlet Knights opened the scoring with a two-run second, sparked by a Jordan Sweeney RBI single. RU added a run on a passed ball in the third to jump to a 3-0 lead before MU got it right back. Johnny Zega (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) singled and stole second, and after a walk and a fielder's choice, Colin McCreary (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) singled to center to plate a pair and get MU within a run at 3-2.

Sweeney drove in another Scarlet Knights run in the sixth before a bases loaded hit by pitch in the seventh gave RU the three-run lead back at 5-2. The Hawks put runners on in each of the final two innings but were unable to convert, falling 5-2.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"We couldn't create many opportunities today.  The guys battled on the mound but at the end of the day we need to score more runs.  We have to make a commitment to get better in both the offensive and defensive phase of the game. Our pitching has kept us in games so far. We have a lot of baseball in front of us, we have to turn the page and move forward." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt

-Cory Hiltz made his first career start, taking his first career decision in the loss.
-Johnny Zega posted his team-leading fifth multi-hit game of the season.
-Colin McCreary became the ninth Hawk with a multi-RBI game this year.
-Evan Ferris made his season debut.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth was narrowly outhit 9-8.
-The Hawks had five two-out hits on the day.
-Eric Reardon earned the win for RU with 2.1 shutout innings.
-Cory Hiltz took the loss for Monmouth, allowing three runs but just one earned in three innings.
-Kyle Muller earned the save for Rutgers with 1.2 scoreless innings to finish the game.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth heads to Richmond this weekend, where they will open play at 10:00 a.m. on Friday against UConn.