Monmouth University baseball (4-4) fell short 11-5 against George Mason University (4-5) on Friday in the weekend opener. Trey Dombroski was strong from the mound through seven, but the eighth inning saw George Mason jump ahead of the Hawks.
Monmouth saw the scoreboard first in the fifth with a Brady Mutz sac fly, but the Patriots took the lead right back with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Dixon Black drove a homerun on a ground out in the eighth.
The Hawks’ effort would fall short later in the inning when George Mason would score nine to jump out to an 11-2 lead. Nick Campana homered in the ninth, driving home three for MU and marking his first homerun of the year, making it an 11-5 final.
In their rematch on Saturday, Monmouth University (5-4) got the better of George Mason University (5-5) 9-7 after six solid innings from Dan Klepchick on the mound, and some dynamite at the plate from Dixon Black.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead courtesy of Ben Winstead’s RBI single in the second before the Patriots made it a 3-1 game in the fourth. A double from Alex Barker in the fifth brought Monmouth within one.
At 3-2 in the sixth inning, MU teed off for seven runs at the plate behind a single RBI from Casey Caufield and a grand slam homerun from Black, marking his third homer on the year. Down 9-3, George Mason scored four in the ninth, but fell short when Reed Interdonato struck out the final batter, securing the victory for the Hawks.
Monmouth (5-5) dropped the series finale at George Mason (5-6) on Sunday, 5-4. After falling behind early, James Harmstead hit a solo dinger over left center field in the second inning to tie the game at one.
With MU up 2-1 in the third, George Mason managed to bring three runs home to take a two-run lead.
The fourth saw Harmstead score on an error to bring the Hawks within one, but they’d see the deficit slip again to two in the bottom of the inning. In the sixth, the Hawks pulled to within a run again on a bases loaded walk, but were unable to bring the tying run home, falling short 5-4 in the weekend finale.
Monmouth University’s softball team lost both games on Friday on its first day of the JU/UNF Spring Break Challenge. The Hawks dropped game one to Fairleigh Dickinson 9-1 in six before suffering a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Saint Francis in eight.
Kylie Gletow held the Red Flash scoreless from the mound in the opening seven, allowing seven hits and three runs (two earned) in her 7.1 inning outing. The junior struck out three in what was her third start of the season, and recorded an ERA of 1.80 over both games after coming in relief for 4.1 innings in the second game.
Outfielder Kiley O’Rourke and Preseason All-MAAC infielders Lindsey Baron, and Julia Thuer all drove home runs in MU’s efforts on Friday, adding to their RBI totals on the campaign.
The second day of the JU/UNF Spring Break Challenge saw the Monmouth softball team fall short in two games against North Florida, 1-0 and 10-0.
Kylie Gletow performed well from the mound in the opener, allowing just one run in five innings with two strikeouts. Lindsey Baron, team leader in hits, picked up her 14th of the season in the game, joined by Francesca Torraca with two hits in the second game.
Monmouth University’s softball team put themselves back in the win column on Sunday with a 6-5 win against Fairleigh Dickinson, led by Kylie Gletow on the mound and multi-RBI performances from Julia Thuer and Abby Warner.
Thuer got MU started early in the first, knocking a two-run homer for her first of the season. Warner followed this up with a bases loaded single up the middle, driving the Hawks’ lead to 4-0 in the first inning.
The Hawks would tack on another run in the third courtesy of pinch runner Lexi Castaneda, and their sixth run would come in the sixth behind a throwing error on a Stavi Augur single.
Gletow tossed all seven for the Hawks in her third start of the weekend, allowing four runs with three strikeouts. Facing loaded bases in the bottom of the seventh with two down, Gletow pitched the Knights into a groundout to close the game out for the Hawks.
Looking ahead, the softball team will face the University of Albany at 10 a.m. this Friday in Maryland.
