On Tuesday, Apr. 15, the Monmouth baseball team delivered a dominant victory, beating Rutgers for the first time since 2016, showing off their offensive and defensive strength.
In the first inning, Monmouth wasted no time getting to work. Six men got on base, two of them scoring runs. The next inning, the Hawks put four on the board, extending their lead to 6-0. Senior Jay Bant hit a two-run double, grad student Chris Andrews gave up a sac fly, and junior Nick Lovarco had an RBI double, aiding the Hawks to the start of their victory.
After Rutgers continued to get beat by our defense scoring no points, junior Aiden Bretschneider and Bant both got RBI base hits leaving the team with a big 8-0 lead. Throughout the first five innings, Monmouth’s pitching staff only allowed four base runners. At the bottom of the inning, the Hawks scored their most points of the game. Eight players got on base and five scored thanks to Andrews’, Lovarco’s, and junior Simmi Whitehill’s RBI singles.
With the score 13-0, Rutgers finally made their way onto the board, pairing two runs at the top of the eighth. Without a response from MU at the bottom of the inning, Rutgers had the bases loaded but was unable to score anymore thanks to pitcher Derek Benzinger’s double play. This ended the game with a Hawks victory of 13-2.
