HAMDEN, CT – Trey Dombroski struck out a career-high 13 batters, and
Alex Barker and
James Harmstead both homered as Monmouth University Baseball (17-14, 7-0 MAAC) took out Quinnipiac University (7-20, 1-6 MAAC) 7-4 Thursday to open league play 7-0.
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After the first two Hawks reached to open the game, Barker unloaded on a 2-0 pitch to make it 3-0 Hawks early. Dombroski recorded nine strikeouts in the first four innings, with the Bobcats only runs coming on a pair of solo home runs. After a Barker walk in the fifth, Harmstead added to his league lead with his 10
th homer of the season, a three-run blast to make it 5-2.
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Dombroski continued to deal, keeping MU ahead before
Jake Catalano hit a two-run double in the eighth to extend the lead to 7-3. The Bobcats added a run in the eighth, but
Stephen Aldrich struck out two in the ninth to end the game.
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NOTES AND QUOTES
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"Good team win today. Excellent pitching, solid defense and some big hits. Trey threw the ball well and showed why he is the competitor that he is; Aldrich came in and closed the door. Barker staked us to a nice lead early and Harmstead followed in the middle of the game with the big home runs, then Catalano battled with his two-RBI AB. Catalano continually fought in his at-bat and got that big two-strike double. Mutz scoring from first base on that ball was a huge play as well. We did a lot of good things today that enabled us to win." – Head Coach
Dean Ehehalt
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-Monmouth is 7-0 in conference play for the first time since 2006.
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James Harmstead's 10 home runs are the most by a Hawk in a single-season since 2009 (Bottigliero – 17, Pulsonetti – 11).
-Dombroski's 13 strikeouts are a career-high and the most since May 2016, when Frank Trimarco had 16 vs. Iona.
-MU has won four in a row at Quinnipiac.
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Casey Caufield has been on base 27 games in a row.
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Alex Barker posted his third three-RBI game of the season.
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Stephen Aldrich earned his third save of the season, a career-high.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outhit QU 8-7.
-Dombroski went eight innings, allowing three earned runs with one walk and 13 K's.
-Aldrich struck out two in the ninth to earn the save.
UP NEXT
-The teams continue the series tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. in Hamden.
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