WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Playing a home game for the first time in 681 days, the Monmouth University Baseball team (4-1, 4-1 MAAC) shut out Manhattan College (0-1, 0-1 MAAC) 2-0 on Sunday afternoon behind six-plus shutout innings from
Dan Klepchick (Warrington, PA/Central Bucks South) and a two-run double by
Zach Schild (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South). The second game of the doubleheader, which was halted due to darkness, saw MU leading 2-1 after five frames and will be picked up again tomorrow morning.
Klepchick faced just two over the minimum through six full innings, erasing a first-inning leadoff double with a line drive double play. He set down three in a row on 11 pitches after allowing a double to start the third, and with two aboard in the sixth, rolled a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. MU got on the board in the fourth when
Johnny Zega (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown South) led off with a line single to right. After a ground out and two walks filled the bases, Schild ripped a double into the right field corner to score two and make it 2-0. After Klepchick led the leadoff man reach in the final inning,
Ryan Steckline (Newark, DE/Appoquinimink) came on and worked through it, with the game ending when Schild threw out Zahan Meyer trying to steal second.
MU took a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning of the second game on the power of two bases-loaded walks after
Alex Barker (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) led off with a double, with Manhattan scoring on an infield base hit in the first. The game was halted due to darkness after five full innings, and will resume tomorrow.
NOTES AND QUOTES
"Real good win today. Good pitching, solid defense and timely hitting. Klepchick threw well and dug in when he needed to. Steckline closed it out. We were able to string together some good at bats and then Zach had a clutch double." – Head Coach
Dean Ehehalt
-Monmouth played its first home game in 681 days, last having played in West Long Branch on May 17, 2019.
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Dan Klepchick earned his first win of the year and 10
th of his career.
-This was MU's first shutout since a 12-0 win over Rider on May 16, 2019.
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Ryan Steckline picked up his third save in as many games and ninth of his career.
-Schild's two-RBI double were his first runs driven in of the season.
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Dixon Black,
Jalen Jenkins,
Harry Padden,
James Harmstead,
Alex Barker,
Dennis Filipovski and
Jake Catalano made their home MU debuts.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-The teams combined for just nine hits.
-Klepchick earned the win with six shutout, four-hit innings, fanning five and walking none.
-Steckline allowed a hit and nothing more to earn the save.
-Four different Hawks had a hit.
-Muratalla took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits with six K's and four walks in 4.1 innings.
-Five different Jaspers had hits.
UP NEXT
-Monmouth and Manhattan will continue tonight's halted game, picking up in the top of the sixth, tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. Following the conclusion of that contest, the teams will play the regularly scheduled doubleheader. The games are slated to air on the Monmouth Athletics YouTube page, which can be found at YouTube.com/MonmouthHawks.
