FINAL SCORE – 12 INNINGS
Monmouth 6 (11-22, 5-9 CAA)
Elon 5 (15-23, 5-9 CAA)
 
ELON, N.C. – Mason Wolf executed a perfect squeeze bunt in the top of the 12th inning and Tommy Kent threw 3.1 scoreless innings to help the Monmouth University baseball team battle back for a 6-5 win at Elon University in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play on Saturday night. 
 
The Hawks took an early lead in this one as James Harmstead had an RBI double in the first and Eric Sabato reached on a fielder choice that allowed Chris Andrews to score in the third.
 
Elon scored four runs in the bottom of the third for the 4-2 advantage. 
 
The Hawks got one of those runs back in the top of the fifth as Austin Denlinger launched a solo home run to center field. That cut the visitors' deficit to 4-3. 
 
Elon pushed the lead back to two in the bottom of the sixth as Ryan Sprock led off with a home run. 
 
The Hawks once again cut the Elon lead to one, 5-4 in the top of the seventh. Harry Padden scored while the Phoenix were turning a double play. 
 
Monmouth tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the eighth. Jay Bant had a pinch hit two-out double to right center that scored Trey Porter. 
 
Jake Fraher and Kent worked around some trouble in the eighth and combined to strikeout out the side. 
 
That was the beginning of a dominating performance from Kent. He limited Elon to just one base runner on a walk through 3.1 innings of work. 
 
In the top of the 12th, the Hawks loaded the bases with one out. Wolf was able to execute a perfect squeeze bunt and Andrews scored on the play for the 6-5 advantage. 
 
Colin Ruddy allowed a lead-off walk to start the bottom of the 12th but got the final three outs to secure the win.

NOTES & QUOTES
"I'm very proud of our guys tonight, they showed a lot of fight and grit. There were so many contributions across the board on both sides of the ball.

Tommy Kent was outstanding tonight in relief. Our pitching kept us in the game all night; Alec Couture battled and kept us within striking distance. A tip of the hat to Jake Fraher, Tommy and Colin Ruddy to ride it out. Defensively we made some big plays when needed.

The top of our order created opportunities from the start, we swung the bats well and we executed when it counted. Mason Wolf, Andrew Schmid and Jay Bant have been practicing hard and waiting for opportunities; all were major contributors in big spots. Mason came through with the squeeze bunt and then made a nice defensive play on the bunt in the bottom of the 12th. All in all, a great team win."
        - Head Coach Dean Ehehalt

- Monmouth picked up its first win in five games against the Phoenix.  
- The Hawks played their longest game since they went 12 innings in a 4-3 win over NJIT in 2020.
- It was Monmouth's fifth extra inning game of the season. It's the most extra inning games for the Hawks since the 2019 team played extras eight times.
- The Hawks picked up their first CAA road win of the year.
- Chris Andrews had a hit and extended his on base streak to 10 straight games. 
- Austin Denlinger recorded his second three-hit game of the season and 12th multi-hit game of the year. 
- Casey Caufield had a pair of base hits for his 11th multi-hit game of the year.
- James Harmstead had two hits and has reached base in six straight games.   

NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Monmouth out hit Elon, 14-8 in the game. The Hawks improve to 5-2 on the year when they record 14 or more hits in a game. 
- The Hawks had five extra base hits in the contest (four doubles and a home run). The Hawks are 5-1 this year when they have five or more extra base hits in a game.
- Monmouth recorded a season-best five sacrifice bunts in the game. 
- Tommy Kent picked up his first collegiate win after going a season-high 3.1 innings and allowing just one runner on a walk. 
- Colin Ruddy picked up his first save as a Hawk after pitching the 12th and allowing just one base runner on a walk. 
- Kolby Pascarelli took the loss for Elon as he logged 0.1 innings and gave up one run on two hits. 
 
NEXT UP
Monmouth and Elon will play game three on Sunday, Apr. 21 at 9:30 a.m. First pitch was moved up to avoid rain being called for in the area.