NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., April 7, 2018 – After splitting two games Friday evening, the Monroe College baseball team picked up a pair of crucial wins on Saturday, defeating Region XV foe ASA College by scores of 7-3 and 8-3 in a twinbill at Dick Caswell Field. Monroe improves to 17-7 on the year and 3-1 in region play with the wins, while the Avengers drop to 12-8.
 
Game 1: Monroe 7, ASA 3
For the first time this weekend, the Mustangs got on the board first against the Avengers. Troy Davern drew a walk with one out in the second, then Kevin Garcia was hit by a pitch. An aggressive Davern took third on a ball in the dirt, and then he scored on a fielder's choice to the pitcher by Joseph Encarnacion, giving Monroe an early 1-0 lead.
 
Marquis Orozco doubled down the left field line to start the third, followed by a walk for Edwin Feliciano Jr. Iasid Bernal then dropped a single into right, scoring Orozco to make it 2-0. Lenyn Napoleon then knocked in Feliciano on a fielder's choice to give Monroe a three-run advantage. Davern followed with a sacrifice fly to right, pushing the lead to four runs.
 
Feliciano led off the fifth with a walk. He later stole second, and moved to third shortly after on a wild pitch. Napoleon then drove him in on a groundout to third, giving the Mustangs a 5-0 lead.
 
A couple miscues cost the Mustangs in the sixth. Dilson Vasquez reached on an error to lead off the frame, and was sacrificed to second by Darwin Tavares. Rohandry Javier then tried another sacrifice bunt, but it was thrown away, allowing Vasquez to score and make it a 5-1 game.
 
An error put a runner on for ASA in the seventh. Later in the frame, Jesus Tejada blasted a two-run homer just over the wall in left-center, getting ASA back within two at 5-3.
 
The Mustangs caught a break with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. With Davern on third, a 2-2 pitch went into the turf and got past the catcher, allowing Davern to score and make it a 6-3 game.
 
Monroe added to its lead in the bottom of the eighth. After a leadoff walk by Abner Vincenty, Juan Torres sacrificed him over to second. Orozco then hit a slow dribbler down the first-base line, getting him out at first, but Vincenty never stopped running, and managed to score from second on the groundout to make it a 7-3 game.
 
Francisco Justo turned in another stellar start, making just one bad pitch all day. He went seven frames, allowing just one earned run on two hits while striking out 13 batters to improve to 4-0 on the season. Moises Robles came on for the final two innings, keeping the Avengers off the board with three strikeouts to earn his second save of the year. ASA starter Blaylor Galice took the loss to fall to 2-1.
 
Napoleon batted 1-for-4 with two RBIs in Game 1. Bernal and Orozco each scored a run and knocked in another. Vincenty finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Feliciano scored twice after drawing three walks in the game.
 
Game 2: Monroe 8, ASA 3
With one out in the bottom of the first, Feliciano reached on a dropped fly ball by the left fielder. During Bernal's at bat, Feliciano stole second, and then moved to third on a wild pitch. Bernal then ripped a double to deep left field, scoring Feliciano to give Monroe a quick 1-0 lead.
 
Leandy Castro and Edgardo Bernard drew back-to-back walks to open the second inning. Joel Paulino then dropped a double down the left-field line, bringing in Castro to double the lead to 2-0. Orozco then singled through the right side to score Bernard and make it a 3-0 game. Feliciano then brought in Paulino on a fielder's choice to the first baseman to go up, 4-0. It became 5-0 shortly after when Orozco came in on a wild pitch. With runners on first and third and two away, the Mustangs pulled off a double steal, with Feliciano stealing home to put the home team ahead, 6-0, after two.
 
ASA capitalized on having first and third with one out in the fourth. Tejada grounded a single through the left side, scoring Tavares to make it a 6-1 game.
 
Gustavo Gonzalez was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the fourth, and then Orozco sent a ground-rule double over the right-center fence to put two in scoring position. Bernal brought in Gonzalez on a groundout to second to put the Mustangs back up by six.
 
With two outs and runners on first and second in the top of the fifth, Miguel Medina hit a ground-rule double to left-center, scoring Livinstrong Martinez from second to make it a 7-2 game.
 
Misael Constanzo hit a double to get things going for ASA in the sixth. Martinez grounded out to move him to third, and then a single off the pitcher brought in Constanzo to make it a 7-3 ballgame.
 
Garcia opened the bottom of the seventh with a four-pitch walk, and was pinch run for by Ryan Hartigan. Hartigan took second on a wild pitch, and was knocked in shortly after on a single to right by Joel Paulino, pushing the lead to 8-3.
 
Richard Moesker tossed five innings for the Mustangs, allowing just two runs on six hits while fanning 12 batters to improve to 3-1 on the season. Luis Grullart threw four innings in relief to earn his first save, allowing just one run with six strikeouts in the process.
 
Orozco hit 3-for-4 in Game 2, knocking in a run and scoring once himself while also hitting a double. Bernal went 1-for-5 with two RBIs and a double. Paulino batted 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs and a double of his own. Castro finished 1-for-3 with a run and a double.
 
The Mustangs get back to work on Tuesday, April 10, when they visit County College of Morris in Randolph, N.J. First pitch of Tuesday's nine-inning contest is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level as of the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).