Columbia
Monmouth
Monmouth Jumps Out to Early Edge in 9-4 Baseball Victory over Columbia
3/30/2011 6:17:00 PM | Baseball
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth's first five batters reached base and eventually came around to score in the first inning as the Hawks took an early 5-0 lead on their way to a 9-4 victory over Columbia on Wednesday afternoon.
Jamie Rosenkranz ripped a triple on the first pitch thrown by Columbia starter David Speer, sparking a five-run Monmouth first inning. Ryan Terry homered after a Jake Gronsky RBI single, making it 3-0 after the first three batters.
Zack Tax tossed two scoreless innings after the first but Monmouth tacked on a run in the fourth to open up a 6-0 advantage.
The Hawks added three more in the sixth on a Gronsky two-run double and a run-scoring single off the bat of Ed Martin, but the Lions responded in their half of the seventh with two outs.
Nick Cox was hit by a 2-0 pitch, advanced to second on a wild pitch and took third when Jon Eisen got on base thanks to an error. Dario Pizzano walked on four pitches, which chased reliever Nick Valillo from the game.
Joe Loiodice came into the game and Alexander Aurrichio greeted him by depositing his 2-1 offering over the center field fence for a grand slam, cutting the deficit to 9-4.
Nick Ferraresi followed Aurrichio's bomb with a double, but Stephen Frey came into the game to get the final out and cut down the two-out rally.
Columbia got two men on base with one out in the ninth but Andrew McGee was able to close the door, handing Monmouth its 10th win of the season.
Speer was saddled with the loss while Chris Perret earned the victory after five scorless innings for the Hawks.
The Lions, now 9-9 on the season, will be back in action on Saturday, April 2 at noon when they open Ivy League play against Dartmouth on Robertson Field at Satow Stadium.
NOTES:
As done in many of its midweek games, Columbia used the "Johnny Wholestaff" approach, using seven pitchers in the game ... Zack Tax struck out two batters in his two innings on the hill ... Zach Epstein, Max Lautmann and Roger Aquino all threw scoreless innings ... Alexander Aurrichio's grand slam was the first of his career and Columbia's first since Dario Pizzano hit one at Harvard last April ... Pizzano went 2-for-4 and reached base three times in the game ... the two teams met for the first time since the 2007 season.
