WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Baseball (22-10, 22-10 MAAC) concluded the regular season on Sunday with a split against Canisius College (17-13, 17-13 MAAC), winning the opener 7-4 before dropping the nightcap by a 7-1 count. MU honored 16 seniors before the game as part of Senior Day.
 
Monmouth scored two runs in each of the first six innings of the opener to pounce on the Griffs, beginning in the first when line drives off the bats of Alex Barker and Dixon Black plated runs to make it 2-0. A sac fly and a Johnny Zega run-scoring single extended that to 4-0 in the second, and Nick Campana lined a double inside the left field line to add to the lead in the third. Rob Hensey was brilliant again, spinning six one-run innings with six K's, the only blemish a fifth inning Gibson Krzeminski home run. The visitors got three in the seventh but MU shut the door to secure the series win, 7-4.
 
After Canisius scored in the first inning of the nightcap, Matt Graber singled to tie it in the fourth. However, Canisius played six in the fifth to take the lead for good, going on to win 7-1. Evan Ferris, Joey Ventresca, Mason Miller and Chris Hawyluk all delivered scoreless outings for MU out of the bullpen in the game.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"Great day today. We honored a big senior class and we cannot thank those guys enough for their contributions and dedication to our program. It is an awesome group of student-athletes. I was happy for all the seniors and their families who came out in great numbers today. They have been very committed to stick together and navigate through all of the things that college athletes have had to deal with during the past 14 months. As a group they have been classy, resilient and have been great representatives of Monmouth University. I know they all look forward to the next chapter in our season." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt on the Monmouth Baseball seniors
 
"We were able to split today and come away with a nice series win. Dixon Black had a nice day with five hits, Rob Hensey threw well, Joey Ventresca made his first appearance on the mound since his injury and it was nice to see Chris Hawryluk throw a 1-2-3 ninth." – Ehehalt on the afternoon
 
-Monmouth enters the 2021 MAAC Tournament as the second seed.
-MU has now qualified for the conference tournament in 23 seasons under Dean Ehehalt.
-Monmouth won its sixth series in eight attempts this season.
-16 Monmouth seniors were honored pregame as part of Senior Day 2021. That group included nine true seniors, five fifth-year seniors, and two seniors that concluded their careers in 2020, as JP Walsh and James Kelly were in attendance to be honored.
-The Hawks topped the 20-win plateau for the 25^th season in a row, despite playing just 32 games.
-Dixon Black posted his fourth three-hit game of his freshman campaign.
-Rob Hensey won his team-best fifth game.
-Joey Ventresca made his MU debut on the mound, throwing a scoreless inning.
-Chris Hawryluk tossed his first inning of the season, posting a scoreless ninth in the finale.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU outhit Canisius 10-4 in the opener.
-Rob Hensey earned the win with six innings of two-hit, one-run ball, fanning six next to zero walks.
-MU used seven pitchers in the finale.
-Duffy earned the second game win for the Griffs, allowing one run in five innings.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth will host #7 Siena on Friday in West Long Branch in the MAAC quarterfinals. The doubleheader will begin at 11:00 a.m. and will air on an ESPN platform.