Monmouth baseball reached 7-2 in CAA play through the month of March with a series sweep over Towson, and two series wins over Hofstra and Stony Brook; junior first baseman Chris Walsh and senior outfielder Nick Lovarco were named CAA player of the week during that stretch.
The Hawks opened conference play on Friday, Mar. 6 in a three-game set against the Towson Tigers down in Maryland. The weekend ended with Monmouth completing their first series sweep in the CAA since 2024, when they had also swept the Tigers.
The Hawks offense showed out in each game. On Friday, three-homeruns carried Monmouth to their 12-5 victory. Senior infielder Simmi Whitehill sent one out over the right field wall in the first, scoring junior outfielder RJ Mustaro and freshman infielder Sam Saucke. Sophomore designated hitter Jake Howlett had his own home run to right shortly after, scoring Walsh. The Hawks third dinger came off the bat of junior catcher Brendan Buecker, adding two more runs in the fifth inning.
Sophomore righty Ryan Mealy got the start in game one against the Tigers. He went five complete innings, giving up five runs. Fifth year right-hander Kevin Opanel earned the save, giving the Hawks four innings of relief.
Saturday’s game ended with a score of 4-1 in the Hawks favor, telling a slightly different tale than Friday. It was Towson who struck first with an RBI single off of graduate righty Alec Couture in the second inning. Couture proceeded to hold the Tigers scoreless through the next four. Senior right hander Austin Beard came in in relief, putting up three of his own scoreless. Senior righty David Horvath came in to close the game.
The Hawks answered Towson’s offense in the third, with Saucke reaching second on a fielder’s choice, sending home sophomore outfielder Colin Richter. Saucke proceeded to score on a failed steal attempt. In the seventh he added two more runs with a homer to left center, making him responsible for all of Monmouth’s earned runs.
Monmouth completed the sweep on Sunday, taking Towson down 12-4. The Hawks offense was carried by Walsh and junior outfielder Aidan Bretschneider. Walsh collected three-base hits, three runs, and an RBI. Bretschneider sent his first home run over the fence this season with a grand slam to left.
The Hawks bullpen mirrored the strong offensive performance. Senior lefty Tommy Kent had the start, striking out four in his two innings. Senior righty Brendan Kenneally relieved Kent in the third and earned his first win of the year, giving up two runs in four innings on the mound. Junior righty Stefan Swee and senior lefty Caden Carlin came in to close out the game.
Walsh was named Co-CAA Player of the Week for that week. It was the first time in his career he was named Player of the Week. Walsh’s performance at the plate in the Towson sweep earned him the title; he batted .500, slugged .500, and had an OBP of .571.
The Hawks continued CAA play and had their home opener on Friday, Mar. 14 against the Hofstra Pride. Monmouth scored first in the fourth inning with a solo homer to center from Mustaro. They extended their lead to 2-0 when Whitehill scored on an E4. Walsh hit another solo homer for the Hawks in the sixth. Freshman outfielder Will Fahey hit a sac fly to right. Richter bunted in the Hawks final run of the afternoon.
In the top of the 6th, the Hawks made a defensive replacement for Saucke, sending in graduate infielder Jimmy Bruno following a lower body injury earlier in the game. Bruno has been the Hawks starting shortstop since that injury to Saucke.
Mealy had the start for Monmouth, holding Hofstra to just three runs over 5.1 innings. Opanel came in relief and put up a strong 2.2 innings. Horvath closed it out for the Hawks again, tossing a scoreless ninth.
Monmouth was given their first conference loss of the year the following day as the Pride had a late offensive push. Hofstra pulled ahead early in the first with a sacrifice fly from sophomore designated hitter CJ Griggs. Redshirt senior outfielder Tyler Cox followed that up with an RBI single and proceeded to score on an E6. The Pride tagged on another in the second with another sac fly, this one from junior infielder Michael Brown.
The Hawks chipped away at the Pride’s lead in the third. Walsh scored on a fielder’s choice which allowed Whitehill to reach first. Lovarco had an RBI single to center. In the fourth, Monmouth tied the game with a two-run single to center from Richter; Lovarco and Buecker scored.
It was Griggs who started and ended the scoring for the Pride. He gave Hofstra the go ahead run with a single through the right side in the seventh.
Monmouth came out strong in the rubber match, putting up a 10-run second inning that led them to a 19-9 victory that secured the Hawks both the game and series.
Going into the bottom of the second, the Hawks were trailing 7-1. The scoring started with an RBI for Buecker after he got hit by a pitch. Walsh followed that with an RBI walk. Mustaro and Howlett each earned an RBI after getting hit as well. Lovarco had the first RBI hit of the inning for the Hawks, with a single through the right side. After that, Richter sent one over the fence in right center for a grand slam. Just like that, the Hawks now led 11-7.
Hofstra tagged two more in the third, however the Hawks answered back scoring four more of their own. After Buecker scored on an E2, Mustaro hit an RBI single to left. He proceeded to score on a Howlett double who then scored on a Bruno sac fly. The score remained 14-9 for two innings until the bottom of the sixth when the Hawks sent four more across the plate. Hunt had a two-run double that was followed by a two-run single from Lovarco.
The Hawks bullpen picked up Kenneally, who came in for Kent early in the first. Carlin came in in the third inning, giving up just two hits in his three innings of work and earning the win. Freshman righty Corey Pascarella closed out the game as the Hawks took down the Pride in seven innings.
This past Friday, Monmouth baseball started their third CAA series, hosting the Stony Brook Seawolves. The Hawks started the scoring in the first with an RBI single to right from Buecker. The rest of their runs came from solid barrel-to-ball contact. Lovarco hit two homeruns, one to left center in the third inning and another to center in the fifth. Walsh had a three run double in the third. Mustaro homered to left in the seventh and Bruno to center in the eighth.
Mealy picked up his second win on the season, tossing a season high 5.2 innings. Opanel earned his second save of the season only giving up one hit in his 3.1 innings of work.
Saturday was a different story for the Hawks; they had to fight back from a deficit to take down the Seawolves. Stony Brook pulled ahead early in the first with an RBI ground out. They added another in the third and three more in the fifth to lead 5-0.
Monmouth put up an eight run sixth inning to pull ahead. After Lovarco scored on a balk, Hunt hit a two-run double down the left field. Buecker followed with an RBI single to center. He scored on Whitehill’s single through the right side. Lovarco sent home another two with a single through the left side and scored the Hawks final run on a wild pitch.
Couture and Beard struck out a combined nine Seawolves; the fourth time this season that the Hawks pitching staff recorded a minimum of nine strikeouts in a game.
Monmouth could not complete the sweep Sunday afternoon, falling to Stony Brook 10-7. The Hawks were able to tie the game in the fourth at five off a Lovarco grand slam after trailing since the second, but they fell behind again in the sixth. The Hawks could not capitalize on late scoring opportunities.
Following the series win and his performance against the Seawolves while hitting .818 in the series with an .857 OBP and 1.636 slugging, Lovarco was the third Hawk this season to be named a CAA Player of the Week.
After winning their first three conference series and moving to 7-2 in CAA play, Monmouth heads down to Elon this weekend for another CAA weekend set against the Phoenix. First pitch for the series opener is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon and the game can be watched on FloSports.
