Siena Rallies To Defeat Monmouth, 6-5
MAAC Sports
LAKEWOOD, N.J. – John Rooney scored the winning run when Andres Ortiz drilled a two-out single to left field in the bottom of the ninth to give No. 2 seed Siena College a 6-5 victory over No. 5 seed Monmouth University on Saturday (May 24) afternoon in the 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Baseball Championship at FirstEnergy Park.
With the victory, Siena advances to play third-seeded Fairfield in the game to immediately follow. The Saints are now 1-1 in the Championship, and the game against the Stags is a re-match of their opening game, 6-5 loss.
The loss eliminated Monmouth from the championship. The Hawks conclude their season, their first in the MAAC, with a 24-25 record.
Rooney, a senior rightfielder, collected four hits in four trips to the plate, scored twice and drove in a pair of runs for the Saints (23-31). Ortiz, a senior leftfieder, was 2-for-5 with a RBI, while senior first baseman Vincent Citro was 3-for-4 and scored three times. Citro is now hitting .750 in the championship and had scored four runs for the Saints.
Siena rallied from a three-run deficit for the victory. Monmouth took a 5-2 lead in the top of the sixth when Craig Sweeney reached on a one-out base hit, and Danny Avella powered fourth home run of the year over the right field fence for two runs. The Hawks continued to threaten in the inning when Jon Guida and Kyle had consecutive base hits, but Robbie Alessandrine ground out to second to end the inning.
Siena responded with one run in the bottom of the sixth, and two more in the seventh, to tie the score at 5-5. Dan Swain stroked a RBI single in the sixth to score John Rooney, who had reached via base hit. The Saints scored twice in the seventh as Justin Esquerra and John Rooney each collected RBI.
Both teams were scoreless in the eighth. Kyle Perry opened the ninth with a single for the Hawks, but Robbie Alessandrine was unable to bunt him over on three efforts. Perry did advance to second on Grant Lamberton’s sacrifice bunt, but Steve Wilgus flew out to centerfield.
Rooney reached in the bottom of the ninth with a one-out single, and moved to second on Brian Fay’s sacrifice bunt. Ortiz then drove a 1-0 pitch to left field for the winning RBI, scoring Rooney.
Lost in the loss for the Hawks was a gutty performance by Monmouth’s sophomore lefty Frank Trimarco. Trimarco threw six innings, allowing seven hits and four runs.
Siena starter Ed Lewicki threw six innings, allowing allowing five runs on seven hits. Neil Freyer, the MAAC’s Co-Relief Pitcher of the Year, earned the victory with one shut out inning.