Monmouth Baseball collected its second CAA sweep of the season over Elon to move to 10-2 in conference play; they now lead the north division and sit second overall in the conference.
The Hawks opened their weekend set this past Friday afternoon against the Elon Phoenix at Latham Park at 2:30 p.m.. Despite Elon threatening in the second, the game was scoreless through the first three innings until Monmouth’s freshman designated hitter Will Fahey singled to short, scoring junior first baseman Chris Walsh, who had just stolen third base. Junior right fielder RJ Mustaro tagged on another with an RBI double to left field, scoring senior left fielder Nick Lovarco.
The Phoenix tied it up in the bottom of the fifth with a sacrifice fly from junior designated hitter Kevin Denty. That was directly followed by an RBI single to shallow center from junior first baseman Jose Mariano.
The lead was exchanged through the sixth and seventh innings. Monmouth sent their go-ahead run across the plate in the eighth with a sac fly to deep center off the bat of sophomore center fielder Collin Richter. The Hawks added two more in the ninth to seal a 6-3 win over the Phoenix.
Sophomore righty Ryan Mealy had the start on Friday afternoon. The New York native struck out six and tossed 5.2 innings to match his season high. Fifth-year righty Kevin Opanel threw 3.1 innings of relief to close out the game, picking up his third win on the season.
Walsh collected two stolen bases on the day, giving him the team high with ten this year. Richter’s two RBIs gave him his sixth multi-RBI game this season, leading the rest of the Hawks.
Saturday was a battle for Monmouth, but they were able to pull ahead and beat the Phoenix 9-7 to secure the series win. Senior third baseman Simmi Whitehill had a two-run double to right in the first inning to open the scoring. Freshman shortstop Sam Saucke and junior second baseman Wyatt Hunt scored. Saucke made his return to the Monmouth lineup after sustaining a lower body injury on Mar. 13, leading off the game with a single to right.
Elon’s senior second baseman Jackson Alford homered to left to cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first. Monmouth immediately responded in the second with a home run of their own. Sophomore catcher Jake Howlett sent one over the left field fence, scoring Mustaro to extend the Hawks lead to 4-1. Howlett’s homer was the Hawks 26th of the season in 23 games, matching their season total from last year.
Monmouth tagged on two more in the third with an RBI double to left center, coming off the bat of junior catcher Brendan Buecker. Buecker proceeded to score on a single up the middle from Mustaro.
Both offenses were quiet through the fourth and the fifth innings, until the Phoenix put up five in the sixth. Graduate left fielder Brian DuRoff led off with a homer to left field. Sophomore shortstop Jake Hajdu doubled to left to add two more runs for Elon. Graduate catcher Gavin Bogdanchik singled to left center to score Hadju. The final run of the inning came from an RBI double off Alford’s bat to tie the game at six.
The Hawks’ last three runs came unearned in the seventh inning. Walsh walked to get on the base path, reaching third on a Whitehill single to short. Whitehill reached second on a throwing error by Mariano; Walsh stole home. Lovarco singled through the left side to give the Hawks first and third and force the Phoenix into a pitching change. Elon brought in sophomore righty Kehler Hamilton. Both Lovarco and Whitehill scored on a Hamilton error: a failed pickoff attempt at first.
Hawk’s starter Alec Couture, a graduate righty, gave them five innings, striking out three. Senior righty Austin Beard gave Monmouth three innings of relief, earning his second straight win. Senior righty David Horvath closed the game and earned his fourth save of the season; the most of any Hawk since 2024.
Monmouth completed the sweep Sunday afternoon with a strong 8-2 victory. Lovarco opened the scoring in the second with an RBI double deep to left in the second inning. Walsh had a two-run single to shallow right in the third. He added another run in the fifth with an RBI double to left center. In the sixth, Richter tripled down the right field line to score Fahey. Fahey scored again in the eighth on a Saucke groundout, his first RBI since returning from injury. Hunt added another in the eight with an RBI single through the left side. Whitehill scored on a Mustaro sacrifice fly in the ninth for another insurance run.
Monmouth’s pitching staff matched their offense’s performance. Senior righty Brendan Kenneally went 5.2 innings for his season high and gave up just two runs for his second win of the year. Freshman righty Cory Pascarella gave the Hawks 3.1 innings of relief with four strikeouts to close out the game and to earn his first career save.
The sweep over Elon moves the Hawks to 10-2 in conference play and 6-0 on the road against CAA opponents. Monmouth leads the north division and sits second overall in CAA standings, trailing Campbell by just one game.
They have the opportunity to continue their winning ways this week as they travel to Boston to take on the Northeastern Huskies. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and the game can be streamed on FloSports.
