After friendly and opposing bats alike exploded in their non-conference April 4 and April 5 games against Saint Peter’s and NJIT, Monmouth University’s baseball team had a much more tame outing on April 9, as they shut out their hosts North Carolina A&T 2-0.
Sophomore righty pitcher Reed Interdonato got the start on the mound for Monmouth and pitched a scoreless six innings. He gave up just two hits and fanned five batters en route to earning his second win of the season, and his second consecutive scoreless appearance. Senior righties Dante Ciaramella and Ryan Bearse pitched in relief of Interdonato, with Bearse picking up his second save of the season.
Bearse’s save was his first since a 14-12 shootout win over William & Mary on March 25, with Interdonato starting and winning that game as well. Neither Bearse nor Ciaramella conceded a hit in their three combined innings, and the pair amassed a total of three strikeouts.
Senior first baseman James Harmstead led the way offensively for the Hawks, hitting homers on each of his two hits on the afternoon. Harmstead’s multi-homer game was the third such in his career, with his last coming on March 22, 2022 against Fordham. In Monmouth’s last game against NJIT, Harmstead helped keep the Hawks a perfect 12-0 all-time against their opponents with his first career triple.
Head Coach Dean Ehehalt reflected on the game, calling it a “Great team win today. Reed had his best career start and gave us exactly what we needed. Dante and Ryan did a great job out of the bullpen. James broke out and of course provided us with our offensive production. A few nice plays on defense and [Mason] Wolf threw out a would-be base stealer in a big spot.”
Junior second baseman Casey Caufield and senior right fielder Ben Winstead joined Harmstead in the hit column for the Hawks in what was a quieter offensive game than usual.
With their other two games against North Carolina A&T postponed for now, the Hawks earned a much needed CAA win to give them their third conference win of the season, bringing them to a CAA record of 3-10. Monmouth’s next CAA competitions will come in the form of a three-game home series against the College of Charleston, spanning from April 14 to April 16.
The Hawks, now on a three-game win streak, will have four games in five days in the upcoming week, starting with a visit from the Princeton Tigers on April 12 at 3:00 p.m.
