M onmouth baseball suffered its first CAA series loss of the season to the Northeastern Huskies this past weekend, although two Hawks joined the hundred-hit club in the lone win of the weekend.
The Hawks went up to Brookline, Massachusetts to take on the Huskies in a series that opened on Thursday afternoon. Scoreless through the first three, Northeastern got on the board first in the fourth inning. Redshirt freshman AJ Aschettino singled in senior designated hitter Matt Brinker. That was followed up by a two-run single coming off the bat of freshman second baseman Charlie Criscola.
The Hawks responded in the sixth with what ended up being their only run of the afternoon: a sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Nick Lovarco.
Northeastern added four more runs in the seventh. The first two coming from a pair of RBI doubles coming from senior shortstop Carmelo Musacchia and junior center fielder Ryan Gerety. Redshirt senior left fielder Harrison Feinberg and Gerety scored the final two runs on a failed pickoff attempt by Monmouth’s junior catcher, Brendan Buecker. The Huskies beat the Hawks by a final score of 7-1.
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Mealy had the start for Monmouth. He went a season high six innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out four. This was his fifth straight game striking out four or more batters. Junior second baseman Wyatt Hunt collected two base hits to earn his 11th multi-hit game on the season to lead the team.
Friday afternoon was a much different story for the Hawks as they rallied late in the game to take the Huskies down 8-6. Monmouth found themselves in a 3-0 deficit heading into the fourth inning. Lovarco gave the Hawks their first run with a home run to left center. Northeastern put another on the board in the bottom of the inning to lead Monmouth 4-1.
The Hawks responded with two more in the fifth. An RBI double to right center from Hunt scored sophomore center fielder Colin Richter. Hunt proceeded to score on an RBI groundout from junior first baseman Chris Walsh.
After Northeastern tagged on another in the bottom of the fifth, Monmouth put up a four-run sixth to give them the lead and eventually the win. An RBI bunt from junior right fielder RJ Mustaro started the scoring in this inning. That was followed by Richter getting hit by a pitch, scoring Buecker. Freshman shortstop Sam Saucke hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score sophomore designated hitter Jake Howlett. Mustaro then scored on a Hunt sac fly to right center.
The Hawks final run came in the ninth from an RBI single off the bat of senior third baseman Simmi Whitehill.
Monmouth’s Alec Couture, a graduate righty, was on the mound to start. He gave up five runs across five innings, striking out three to earn the win. Senior righty Austin Beard took the final four innings to become the fourth Hawk to earn a save this season. He gave up just one run and struck out four.
The win came with both Walsh and Hunt earning their hundredth hits in their Monmouth careers. Walsh went 2-5 with an RBI to cross the threshold. Hunt did so by going 3-4, with two RBIs and scoring two runs.
The Hawks could not carry the offense over into the rubber match on Saturday afternoon, losing to the Huskies by a final score of 13-1. Monmouth struck first with a homer to left off of Walsh’s bat on the first pitch he saw. That was his fifth on the season and made him the team leader for home runs. The home run extended his on base streak to 22 straight games. Despite the hot start, the Monmouth offense fell flat after the first.
The Huskies responded strongly, putting up five runs against Hawks starter, senior righty Brendan Kenneally. Northeastern was in full control, knocking out Kenneally after 2.1 innings of work. Freshman righty Cory Pascarella came in and gave the Hawks four strong innings, allowing one run and striking out two. Graduate lefty Jake Danyluk relieved Pascarella in the seventh, striking out two after allowing a homer to Northeastern’s Cooper Tarantino, a sophomore catcher.
Senior righty David Horvath came in for Danyluk in the eighth. The Huskies scored six runs on a three-run double to right center and a three-run homer to left. The game was called short under the mercy rule without Horvath recording an out.
Despite the series loss, the Hawks still lead the CAA North division, holding a one-game advantage over Northeastern. Monmouth has the opportunity to bounce back as they continue conference play this Friday when they host the Towson Tigers. First pitch is scheduled at 3 p.m., and the game can be viewed on FloSports.
