The Monmouth Hawks (15-17) took on the Charleston Cougars (18-12) this past Sunday (4/6/25) and secured a gutsy 5-4 victory at home after pitchers Ryan Mealy and JD Greeley allowed just two hits in the last four innings of play.
This win wasn’t just any typical win, as it was the first time the Hawks got the better of the Cougars in team history.
Charleston started the game off strong, scoring a run in the top of the first inning after DH Landon Penfield recorded an RBI by grounding out, which allowed Dariyan Pendergrass to score.
Monmouth responded by taking the lead in the bottom half of the first inning after senior infielder Jay Bant hit an RBI single that scored CF Harry Padden and 1B Chris Walsh hit a sac fly to right field, scoring 2B Casey Caufield. These RBI’s put the Hawks up 2-1.
In the bottom of the second inning, Padden hit a key RBI single, scoring sophomore catcher Brendan Buecker, which made the score 3-1 in favor of the Hawks.
Charleston eventually came all the way back, scoring three straight runs, with one run coming in the fourth inning, and two coming in the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Monmouth took the lead right back. Walsh hit another sac fly to right field, which tied the game at 4-4. Third baseman Wyatt Hunt reached on a fielder’s choice that ended up allowing Bant to reach home plate, giving the Hawks a 5-4 lead going into the sixth inning.
Mealy, who pitched the first five innings, would pitch the sixth inning and allow no runs.
Greeley earned the save after pitching a shutout the last three innings, helping the Hawks escape the day with a 5-4 win over the Cougars.