Monmouth baseball went 1-2 over the weekend against Stony Brook, falling behind the Northeastern Huskies in CAA North standings after dropping Saturday’s double header.
The Hawks opened the weekend with an 8-4 win over the Seawolves on Friday afternoon. After falling behind early in the first, Monmouth put up a four-run third inning to pull ahead. Sophomore centerfielder Colin Richter opened the scoring for the Hawks with a two-run blast to right, scoring graduate shortstop Jimmy Bruno. They added two more with another ball sent to right, this one a single off the bat of senior third baseman Simmi Whitehill. Junior first baseman Chris Walsh and junior catcher Brendan Buecker scored on the Whitehill single.
Stony Brook scored three runs to tie it up in the fourth inning. Junior first baseman Chris Carson sent a two-run homer over the right field fence to make it a 4-3 game. Mike Cervoni sent one to third for an RBI single to tie the game at four.
Whitehill put the Hawks back on top with a homerun to right center in the top of the sixth. The Hawks scored three more runs across the last three innings, including the Hawks third long ball of the day in the ninth from junior second baseman Wyatt Hunt.
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Mealy and fifth year righty Kevin Opanel paired up to hold off the Seawolves offense. Mealy went 6.1 innings, giving up three earned runs, striking out two. Opanel came in to relieve Mealy in the seventh, going the final 2.2.
The series continued Saturday with a double header, the first game starting just before noon. The Seawolves pulled ahead in the first inning with a sac fly from senior right fielder Chanz Doughty. They added a run in the third and another in the fifth. Despite a ninth inning RBI single from Whitehill, Stony Brook kept their lead and took the first game with a final score of 3-1.
Graduate righty Alec Couture put up a strong start for the Hawks in the morning loss. Couture went seven complete innings and struck out four while giving up two earned runs. Senior righty Austin Beard came in for the eighth, earning his own strikeout.
The second game started shortly after the completion of the first, this one going back and forth. Monmouth opened the scoring in the first with a sac fly to right off the bat of senior left fielder Nick Lovarco, scoring Hunt. Stony Brook answered right back in the bottom of the inning with an RBI double down the right field line from Carson. He proceeded to score on a throwing error by Bruno.
The Hawks earned another run in the fourth with a Lovarco home run to left field. An RBI single to center field from sophomore center fielder Nick Zampieron in the seventh and a Cervoni RBI single to left in the eighth put the Seawolves ahead of Monmouth 5-2. That score would end up being the final, and Stony Brook swept the double header to win the weekend set.
Freshman righty Cory Pascarella had the second start of the day. He went 5.1 innings, giving up three runs while striking out two. Senior righty Brendan Kenneally came in to relieve Pascarella in the sixth, going for one and a third, giving up one run. Senior righty David Horvath earned the last out of the seventh inning. Lefty graduate Jake Danyluk closed out the game for the Hawks, striking out one.
Despite the series’ loss, some of the Hawks had some great accomplishments on the individual level. Lovarco’s homerun was his seventh on the year, giving him the team lead. Whitehill extended his on-base streak to 37 games. Walsh stole a bag in the first game, earning himself back-to-back seasons of 20 or more steals.
The Hawks now sit at 15-6 in the CAA and second in the north division, trailing behind Northeastern who sit at 13-5. The Huskies currently hold a better win percentage despite winning less conference games. Monmouth hosts the Rider Broncos for a three-game set this weekend. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. this Friday.
