CARY, NC – Jake Catalano's 10^th inning walk-off single through the left side propelled Monmouth University Baseball (3-1) to a win over LIU (2-2) Sunday, completed a three-win opening weekend for the Blue and White. Dixon Black led Monmouth with three hits and Rob Hensey struck out nine in the victory.
 
LIU scored an unearned run in the third that MU immediately got back in the bottom half. Catalano led off with a triple, and Colin McCreary's ground out brought him in. Black followed with a triple of his own, and Joey Ventresca plated him with a single to make it 2-1 Monmouth. The teams traded runs in the fourth, with MU's coming on a Brady Mutz ground out, before LIU tied it on a Ciaccio sac fly in the fifth.
 
Monmouth's bullpen combined to throw five shutout, two-hit innings including 2.2 scoreless from Jake Fraher in his second career outing to keep the Sharks off the board. Alex Barker drew a walk with one down in the 10^th, and Casey Caufield registered his first career hit to follow. A hit by pitch loaded the bases, setting up Catalano to hit one through the left side for the game-winning hit. Mason Miller earned the win with two shutout innings, including pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the 10^th.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"A nice way to end the weekend.  We squandered a lot of opportunities throughout the game and Catalano was able to deliver the big hit to win it. Fraher got us out of a real jam in the 6th and he pitched well before handing it over to Mason. Mason battled and worked around some walks in the tenth to give us that chance in the bottom of the tenth. We made two outstanding defensive plays later in the game that do not show up in the box score; Andrewss laid out on a tough liner in the eighth and Casey Caufield made a great play on the LIU hitter leading off the 10th. They definitely factored in on the outcome. Coming down to Cary and taking three of four was a nice way to start our season. It was good to get on a field and watch our guys compete. We will be tested again next weekend and look forward to having a good week of practice and getting back at it." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt
 
-Catalano's walk-off hit was the first of his career. It marked Monmouth's first walk-off since Alex Barker's grand slam in the MAAC opening round series against Siena last May.
-MU played in extra innings for the first time this year and first time since May 15, 2021, a win over Canisius in 10.
-Casey Caufield collected his first career hit in the 10^th inning.
-Jay Bant and Aidan Watson made their first career appearances, with Watson scoring the game-winning run as a pinch hitter.
-Matt Choi made his career debut on the mound, recording a strikeout.
-Jake Fraher posted the longest outing of his career, tossing 2.2 shutout innings.
-Fraher recorded his first career strikeout.
-Rob Hensey fanned nine batters, tying the third most in a game in his career.
-Black, Ventresca, Barker and Andrews close the weekend with a hit in each of the four games.
-Mason Miller earned his first win since the 2020 season opener, 2/14/20 against NJIT.
-MU opens the season 3-1 for the second straight season.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outhit LIU 11-6.
-Rob Hensey tossed five innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits with nine K's.
-There were nine combined pitchers used in the game.
-Vandoran took the loss for LIU, allowing the winning run on two hits in the 10^th.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth takes on Wofford on Friday at noon.