TOWSON, MD – Monmouth University Baseball collected two CAA wins on Sunday at Towson University, finishing the middle game of the series with a 21-10 win before a come-from-behind win in the series finale, 7-6. Ben Winstead homered in extra innings to win the final game, and Harry Padden drove in seven runs with two homers in the prior contest.
 
In a game that started Saturday afternoon, Monmouth leapt to a 4-0 lead in large part to Andrew Schmid's three-run home run in the second. Towson cut it to 4-2 before the Hawks hung their second 10-run inning in CAA play, sending 13 men to the plate and scoring 10 times on eight hits. Padden doubled home a run in the inning, while Winstead doubled in two more. Eric Sabato, Jay Bant and Mason Wolf all had run scoring singles in the inning, enabling Padden to hit again and launch a three-run homer to cap the huge stanza. The MU offense didn't stop there, scoring three in the fifth with another RBI double from Winstead before Padden knocking another three-run homer, this one in the seventh to ice the huge offensive effort. MU's bullpen allowed just one earned run and due to weather, the contest had to be completed Sunday which saw David Horvath work a one-hit ninth to shut it down.
 
In the final game of the series, MU took a 3-0 lead in the third thanks to RBI hits from Sabato, Austin Denlinger and Phil Stahl. The Hawks led 4-3 after five, but Towson scored three times in the sixth to go on top. Trailing 6-4, Matt Scrivanic singled home a run in the eighth to get MU closer. In the ninth, Casey Caufield came off the bench to single leading off and go to second on a wild pitch. Nick Czarnecki took advantage, lining a game-tying single the other way. In extras, with one out in the 10^th, Winstead pulled the eventual game-winning home run over the right field wall to make it 7-6. Towson put a runner on second in the bottom half, but Alex Barker completed a masterful relief appearance to secure the win.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"Real solid series from our guys. Two very good team wins; obviously two different types of games in which we got contributions from many. We swung the bats well yesterday and today. Obviously in the game in which we scored 21, Harry and Winstead had big games at the plate. Schmid had the three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch early in the game and that gave us momentum. The lineup strung together a bunch of good at bats and capitalized with our opportunities that created that 10-run inning. We were able to keep passing the lead which was a good sign." – Dean Ehehalt on the completed second game of the series
 
"Our guys played real hard and competed on every pitch in today's game. A good college baseball game for sure- we went up, fell behind, battled back and got some big hits. We battled back from a 6-4 deficit and got some big hits from Scrivanic, Casey, Czarnecki and then Winstead came through in a big spot with the homer. Our defense was outstanding throughout the day and no one showed up to compete more than Alex Barker. Barker pitched out of a jam when he came in the game and just got better as the game went on. Arguably his best performance of the year and we needed it. Contributions from a bunch of guys and a great team mindset yesterday and today. Very happy for the team and proud of our players on how we went about competing today." – Ehehalt on the final game of the series
 
Game Two
-Harry Padden drove in a career-high seven runs, the most since JP Walsh drove in seven in a win over Saint Peter's on March 30, 2019
-Padden scored a career- best five runs, the most by a Hawk in a game since Jamie Rosenkranz scored five times against Youngstown State in Cary, NC
-Eric Sabato notched his second three-hit game as a Hawk
-Ben Winstead posted Monmouth's fifth four-hit game of the season
-Stephen Aldrich earned his first win since April 1, 2022 vs. Iona
-Monmouth's bullpen allowed just one earned run in 4.1 innings
 
Game Three
-Alex Barker struck out nine out of the bullpen, the most K's by an MU reliever this season
-Ben Winstead's go-ahead home run in the 10^th was MU's third home run to take the lead in the eighth inning or later this season
-Nick Czarnecki picked up his first career pinch-hit RBI in tying the game in the ninth.
-Monmouth won its first full CAA series ever.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
 
Game Two
-MU outhit Towson 17-9.
-MU scored a season-high 21 runs.
-Stephen Aldrich threw 2.1 innings, allowing one run with three K's to earn the win.
 
Game Three
-Alex Barker picked up the win with five shutout innings out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and fanning nine.
-The teams combined for 21 hits.
-Towson made all four of the games errors.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth hosts Hartford next Saturday in a doubleheader.