Game One Recap
Mar. 22: After the first inning, Monmouth was up 3-0 after three of the first five batters for Monmouth hit doubles. A scoreless second inning rolled into a four-run third inning, as Towson got one run back at the top of the inning and Monmouth added three at the bottom. One of these came from catcher #8 Phil Stahl for his first home run of the season. Monmouth went into the bottom of the fourth still leading by four, 6-2, before playing their best inning of the game. Ten batters got on base, five of them making it home. Outfielder #10 Eric Sabato had an RBI triple before infielder #30 Wyatt Hunt had a bases-clearing double to extend Monmouth’s lead to 11-2 at the bottom of the fourth. The remaining five innings saw less action as Monmouth got their last two runs of the game in the fifth inning, and Towson tacked on one more run in the eight. Pitcher #42 Drew Denlinger threw seven strong innings, only allowing two runs while being backed by a strong offensive performance from Monmouth with a season high 13-runs.
Game Two Recap
The second game of the double header saw a completely different shift in pace as the Hawks and Tigers battled it out, facing four ties and multiple lead changes. The Hawks picked up a 3-1 over the course of the first three innings, Denlinger with a two run single and Stahl with an RBI. Towson responded with three runs between the fourth and fifth inning before infielder #19 James Harmstead hit an RBI double and outfielder #9 Chris Andrews hit a sac fly at the bottom of the fifth. This put Monmouth up 5-4 after five. A total of five runs were scored in the sixth, three coming from Towson at the top of the inning to give them a 7-5 advantage before Monmouth returned the favor once again from Denlinger with a two-run single. A Towson error at the top of the seventh allowed outfielder #29 Dylan Perry to steal third while Harmstead drew a bases loaded walk to extend the Hawks lead to 9-7. Pitcher #21 Derek Benzinger threw the final two innings, shutting down the Tigers, preventing them from any runs and helping Monmouth secure the win, 9-7.
Game Three Recap
It wasn’t until the end of the third when the Hawks’ first two batters got on base via walk and one base hit. Catcher #12 Joey DeMucci was up to bat when an error led infielder #30 Wyatt Hunt to score the first run of the day. With two outs in the top of the fifth, Towson tied the game 1-1. Monmouth took off in the bottom of the fifth, sending nine batters to the plate and bringing in five of them, with efforts from Demucci who contributed a two-run single. Stahl and outfielder #14 Harry Padden both added RBI base knocks. Pitcher #16 Kevin Opanel threw seven innings, only letting up one run. Opanel was lifted after walking the first batter in the eighth inning who made it around to home to give Towson their second run of the game. The Hawks finalized the game as infielder #45 hit a single in the bottom of the eighth, and scored on infielder #1 Casey Caufield’s RBI single, which capped the scoring for the day and gave Monmouth the 7-2 victory.
