WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Jay Bant gave Monmouth University Baseball (12-13, 3-0 MAAC) the lead in the eighth inning and JD Greeley closed the door in the ninth, as the Hawks swept Iona College (0-23, 0-6 MAAC) Sunday, 6-4. Rob Hensey struck out a career-high 12 on the mound for MU.
 
A two-run double in the opening inning for Brad Polinsky gave Iona a 2-0 lead, but Brady Mutz drove one off the wall in the second to score two and tie the game. In his first career start, freshman Andrew Schmid lined a single back through the middle to score Mutz and give MU a 3-2 lead.  In the fifth, James Harmstead added to the lead with a long solo home run, making it 4-2.
 
Iona got a run off an error in the sixth and chipped away to tie the game in the top of the eighth, 4-4. Schmid was hit by a pitch leading off the eighth, and after a sac bunt and an infield single, Bant lined a single to right center to give Monmouth the lead. Harmstead followed with a run-scoring single, and Greeley stranded the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth to secure the 6-4 win.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"Nice end to the weekend. Hensey gave us a solid start and Greeley pitched well on the back end. Offensively we did enough to create a bunch of opportunities. The guys showed the ability to bounce back and answered with runs when we needed. All in all a great start to conference play." – Head Coach Dean Ehehalt

-JD Greeley earned his first career win.
-Rob Hensey's 12 strikeouts marked a career best.  
-Andrew Schmid made his first career start and posted his first career multi-hit game and first RBI.
-Harmstead's homer was his team-leading eighth.
-Harmstead finished with three hits, his fourth three-hit game of the season.
-Casey Caufield extended his reached base streak to 21 games.
-Joey Ventresca notched his second three-hit game of the year.
-Jay Bant posted his second two-hit game of the weekend.
-Monmouth opened MAAC play with a sweep for the first time since 2017.
-MU has won six straight over Iona.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Rob Hensey did not allow an earned run in seven innings, striking out 12 with no walks.
-JD Greeley allowed just one hit in 1.1 innings with four K's.
-Monmouth outhit Iona 14-6.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth heads to Rutgers Tuesday for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.