MERION STATION, Pa. – Two runs in the ninth carried Monmouth past the Saint Joseph's baseball team, 9-8, at Smithson Field on Tuesday afternoon.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• After a scoreless first inning, Monmouth (8-9) scored five times with two outs in the second to open a 5-0 lead.
 
• The Hawks answered back in the bottom of the frame with four of their own. Ryan Weingartner led off the inning with a shot down the right field line that stayed fair just long enough to get the Hawks on the board.
 
• Justin Igoe followed with a single before Ryan Picollo drilled a no-doubt-about-it shot to left to make it a 5-3 game.  Brandon Drapeau then doubled off the fence in right and came in to score on a single by Luca Trigiani to cut the deficit to 5-4 after two innings.
 
• It remained there until the fifth, when Saint Joseph's (7-9) scored twice to take the lead.  Trigiani and Brett Callahan started things with singles before an RBI groundout by Conlan Wall tied the score.  Two batters later, a Nate Thomas single scored Callahan to give the Hawks their first lead of the day.
 
• SJU extended its advantage to 7-5 in the sixth after Igoe led off with a walk and came around to score on a double by Trigiani.
 
• The visitors equalized on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly in the seventh before taking a two-run lead on a pair of singles in the top of the ninth.
 
• Trigiani capped off his afternoon with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to cut it to a 9-8 deficit, but unfortunately, that would be all for the Crimson and Gray.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• David Horvath allowed a run on two hits in three and a third innings of relief to earn the win for Monmouth, while Tommy Kent allowed a run on a hit in the ninth to earn the save.  Cole Stetzar was charged with two runs on four hits in an inning of work to take the loss.
 
• Neither start figured in the decision as SJU's David Owsik allowed five runs on five hits in two innings and Monmouth's Drew Helmstetter left after four and two-thirds innings in which he ceded six runs on nine hits.
 
• Trigiani finished the day 4-for-4 with three runs batted in and two runs scored, while Thomas and Igoe also turned in multi-hit days for Saint Joseph's.
 
• The defeat is the first this season for SJU at Smithson Field.
 
UP NEXT
Saint Joseph's hosts Maine for the first of a three-game set on Friday.  First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Smithson Field.