Atlantic City, N.J. (May 22, 2008)—Monmouth used an eight-run fourth inning en route to an 12-7 victory over Mount St. Mary's in the opening round of the Northeast Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon. Josh Vittek belted a pair of home runs in the loss for the Mount to break the school's single-season home run record. The tournament is being held at Bernie Robbins Stadium in Atlantic City, N.J.

In the top of the third, Matt Eiden opened the frame with a base hit down the right field line. The Mount's next batter, freshman Shane Eyler, laced a ball to the right-center field gap, but Monmouth's Shawn Teters made a diving grab to prevent an extra base hit. Brach then induced a double-play to end the inning.

In the bottom of the frame, Teters belted the first pitch over the left-field fence for a solo home run to give the Hawks a 1-0 advantage.

Monmouth (36-20) took control of the game in the bottom of the fourth by scoring eight runs. Andy Meyers opened the frame with a base hit to center and Paul Bottigliero followed with a walk. Nick Pulsonetti then tripled to right center field to plate two runs and scored on Chris Collazo's single to right for a 4-0 Hawk lead. John Dennis blasted a two-run shot while Ryan Terry tripled home Kyle Higgins for another run. Terry scored on a wild pitch and Bottigliero drove home Meyers with a base hit to cap the inning.

The Mount got right back in the game with a five-run fifth. Matt Staso led off the top of the inning with a solo home run over the left field fence. Zach Helman followed with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Eiden's RBI base-hit scored Helman to cut the Monmouth lead to 9-2. Shane Eyler was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base and Vittek laced a line-drive home run over the left field fence to cut the deficit to 9-5.

Monmouth added an RBI single from Higgins in the bottom of the fifth before the Mount responded with a run in the top of the sixth on an Eiden sacrifice fly. Collazo's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth gave Monmouth an 11-6 advantage.

The Mount loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Monmouth's Nick Vallillo came on in relief to get out of the jam with a pair of popups on just three pitches.

Collazo laced an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Monmouth to a 12-6 lead, but Vittek led off the top of the ninth with his second home run of the game for the 12-7 final margin.

Collazzo finished 4-for-5 with three RBI to pace the Hawks while Pulsonetti had two hits and three runs driven in. Vittek was 3-for-5 with his two home runs and four RBI to pace the Mount while Staso was 3-for-4 for the Mount in the game.

On the mound, Mount starter Max Brittenham (4-5) allowed six runs in 3.2 innings to take the loss. Costa Kapothanasis allowed two runs in 3.1 innings of relief for the Mountaineers. Brad Brach earned the win to improve to 8-2 on the year despite allowing six runs and 11 hits in 6.1 innings of work.

Vittek's two home runs give him 17 on the season, breaking the Mount's single-season record of 16 set by Jeff Koenig in 2002. Vittek broke the Mount's all-time home run record earlier this season and now has 41 long balls in his career. His two home runs also match an NEC record as he becomes the fifth player in league history to belt a pair of homers in an NEC Tournament game.

The game was a rematch of last year's first-round matchup at the NEC Tournament. The Hawks earned a 9-0 win over the Mount last season behind Brach's seven-hit shutout.

The Mount returns to action tomorrow against third-seeded Wagner at 3:30 p.m.

Game Notes...The Mount is now 0-4 all-time in three NEC Tournament appearances...The Mount lost to Monmouth (9-0) and Quinnipiac (4-1) last year and to St. Francis (N.Y.) (6-1) in 1998...