Box score
NEWARK, NJ—Monmouth combined sometimes dominant pitching and a 13-run, 16-hit attack to defeat NJIT, 13-0, Friday afternoon at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium in the first of three games scheduled between the teams this weekend.
The Hawks, winners of four of the last five Northeast Conference regular season championships, scored twice in the first inning and then blew the game open with a seven-run third inning. Monmouth later added a run in the eighth and two in the ninth on the way to the victory.
Monmouth's three pitchers, beginning with junior RHP Brett Brach (2-0), kept the Highlanders off the board all day and did not allow a hit after the leadoff batter in NJIT's half of the second inning.
Brach went the first seven innings, allowing three hits along with nine strikeouts and walk. Freshman RHP Stephen Prosapio set down the Highlanders 1-2-3 in the eighth and RHP Jonathan Shippee came on to strike out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning.
OF Nick Pulsonetti and DH Rick Niederhaus shared the Monmouth team lead with three hits apiece. 2B Chris Collazo had two hits, including a double, and David Jacob tripled as a pinch hitter.
The losing pitcher was NJIT's starter, senior LHP PJ Saporito (1-3), who pitched better than his line might indicate. He went seven full innings, allowing 10 hits and nine runs (eight earned) with two bases-on-balls and a pair of strikeouts. Junior RHP Chris Parenti allowed four runs over the last two innings.
The NJIT hits came from Craig Binkiewicz, Saporito and from 3B John Berner.
Binkiewicz led off the Highlander first inning with a single and Saporito singled after an out, but they were left on the bases when Brach got the next two batters. Berner led off the second inning with a single, but a walk to Binkiewicz leading off the sixth and another runner in the seventh on Monmouth's only error of the game were all the base runners NJIT could muster the rest of the way.
Monmouth already had what would prove to be more than enough runs, but the biggest blow in the game was a one-out grand slam by C Bobby Dombrowski that raised the Hawks lead from 5-0 to 9-0.
Up until that point, Monmouth had built its lead despite some quality pitches by Saporito, chipping away as opposed to landing a haymaker.
The Hawks scored twice in the opening inning, with the first run coming across on a wild pitch and the second scoring on a two-out double for Niederhaus.
LF Brett Holland led off the Monmouth third inning with a bunt single and Saporito got an out before walking SS Ryan Terry. Pulsonetti singled through the left side to drive in the first run of the inning and then he combined with Terry for a double steal that put runners on second and third. Another hit with eyes, by Niederhaus, found its way through the shortstop-third base hole for an RBI single that made it 4-0.
The next batter, 1B Paul Bottigliero, hit a sinking fly ball to shallow left field that was dropped for an error, allowing Terry to score the third run of the inning. The next batter was hit by a pitch loading the bases for Dombrowski, who homered on a line drive over the left field fence.
Monmouth added a run in the eighth inning, keyed by Jacob's two-out triple ahead of a double for Collazo and the Hawks put together four hits and three more runs in the ninth inning.
NJIT and Monmouth are scheduled to play a single game at 1 pm on Saturday in Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, with the third game of the series scheduled for Sunday at 1 pm in West Long Branch, NJ, on the Monmouth campus.
