West Long Branch, N.J. (May 3, 2008)--Matt Staso homered and
drove home three runs to lift Mount St. Mary's to a 7-3 victory in
the second game of a doubleheader at Northeast Conference leader
Monmouth on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks won the opening game
5-2 with a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh.
The Mount improves to 14-27, 10-8 in the NEC with the victory while
Monmouth drops to 30-12, 15-4 NEC.
In the second game, Josh Vittek's sacrifice fly in the top of
the first inning gave the Mount an early 1-0 advantage. The
Mount's freshmen provided key hits in a three-run second to push
the margin to 4-0. Ryan Murray walked and moved to second on a
base hit by freshman Kyle Kane. Fellow freshman Zach Helman's
grounder to short was misplayed, and Murray scored for the 2-0
lead. Freshman Shane Eyler then laced a two-run single to give the
Mount a 4-0 advantage.
Staso connected for a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to
make the score 6-0. Monmouth countered with an RBI double by Shawn
Teters in the bottom of the sixth, but Staso's RBI base hit in the
seventh pushed the Mount advantage to 7-1. Monmouth scored twice
in the bottom of the frame, but it was not enough as the Mount
earned the victory.
Brett Moore allowed three runs (one earned) while striking out
four in the complete-game victory for the Mount. Staso went
2-for-4 with three RBI in the win while Eyler and Kane added two
hits each in the game.
In the opening game, Nick Pulsonetti's walk-off, three-run home
run in the bottom of the seventh lifted the Hawks to the win.
Pulsonetti was 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI in the
game.
The Mount took the early lead in this game as well, posting a
pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Murray and Eyler each
had RBI singles in the top of the first for a 2-0 lead.
Pulsonetti's homer to left center field in the bottom of the second
cut the Mount's lead in half. The Hawks tied the game with a
single run in the sixth. WIth one out and the bases loaded, Rick
Neiderhaus appeared to hit into an inning-ending double-play, but
the Mount's catcher did not step on the plate for the force,
allowing Pulsonetti to score the game-tying run.
Mount starter Kent Worthington allowed two runs in five innings
for a no decision.
The two teams complete the four-game series with a 1 pm game
tomorrow at the MU Baseball Field.
