Emmitsburg, Md. (April 7, 2007)--Junior Ryan Murray's three-run walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth lifted Mount St. Mary's past Monmouth, 9-8, in Northeast Conference action at E.T. Straw Family Stadium. Murray's blast capped a four-run ninth and gave the Mount a split in the four-game series.

Trailing 8-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth, Matt Eiden walked and Drew Counselman singled off Monmouth's Matt Frazier to open the frame. With one out, Josh Vittek then singled to center field to load the bases for Eric Smith, who flied out to right to drive home Eiden to cut the deficit to 8-6. Murray then blasted a 2-1 pitch over the right-field fence for a three-run home run to give the Mount the 9-8 victory. The home run was Murray's league-leading eighth of the season.

The Mount opened the scoring with an unearned run in the third. After an Eiden walk, Counselman hit into a fielder's choice, stole second and advanced to third on an error by the catcher. Counselman then scored on an Ivor Hodgson sacrifice fly.

The Hawks (14-10-1, 2-2 NEC) answered with three runs in the fourth. Rick Neiderhaus tripled home Shawn Teters for the first run and then scored on a Mike Casale sacrifice fly. Chris Collazo followed with an single, and Brett Holland tripled to right to drive home Collazo.

The Mount cut the deficit to 3-2 in the sixth on a Smith RBI single, but Kyle Messineo hit a three-run homer to spark a four-run seventh to give Monmouth a 7-2 lead. In the seventh, John Dennis and Kyle Higgins singled to set the table for Messineo's fifth home run of the year. Andy Meyers then singled and eventually scored on a Neiderhaus sacrifice fly.

The Mount chipped away at the Monmouth lead, scoring a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to cut the deficit to 7-5. In the seventh, Stephen Fay scored on a Hodgson fielder's choice. In the eighth, Fay had an RBI groundout and Matt Trusch scored on a wild pitch. Niederhaus had an RBI single in the top of the ninth to give Monmouth an 8-5 advantage.

Counselman went 2-for-5 with three runs scored to pace the Mount while Smith was 2-for-2 with two RBI. Neiderhaus was 3-for-4 with three RBI and Meyers 3-for-5 on the day for Monmouth.

Monmouth starter Matt Coulson allowed three runs (two earned) in six innings of work in the no decision. He walked seven batters with three strikeouts. Mount St. Mary's starter Andrew Germuth pitched seven innings, allowing seven runs with two strikeouts. Costa Kapothanasis (1-1) allowed one run in two innings of relief to pick up the win.

Prior to the game, Mount St. Mary's dedicated E.T. Straw Family Stadium which is now named for Erv Straw, a 1952 graduate of the Mount. The $400,000 renovation to the field includes bleachers, a press box, a new outfield fence and foul poles, a new warning track, bullpens, a new sound system and netting behind home plate.

The Mount returns to action on Tuesday, April 10, when Coppin State visits E.T. Straw Family Stadium for a 1:00 p.m. game.

Game Notes...Monmouth now leads the all-time series, 45-9...The Mount won the final two games of the series to snap a five-game losing streak to Monmouth...Murray hit three home runs in the four-game set with eight RBI...He is hitting .390 on the season and leads the NEC with eight home runs...Eric Smith's two RBI give him a league-leading 29 on the year.