NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., May 4, 2018 – Behind Francisco Urena's stellar performance on the hill, the Monroe College baseball team pulled out a 5-2 victory over Harford Community College Friday evening at Dick Caswell Field. The Mustangs take the season series from the Fighting Owls and improve to 29-13-1, while Harford falls to 44-11.
 
Harford got on the board first in Friday's contest. In the top of the second, Harford loaded the bases on a single and two walks. With two outs, Matthew Shilling drew the third walk of the inning, bringing in the first run of the day.
 
The Mustangs did not wait long to get on the board themselves. Troy Davern walked to lead off the second, and then Joseph Encarnacion dropped a single into right-center. Gustavo Gonzalez then dropped down a successful sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position. A wild pitch behind Lenyn Napoleon allowed Davern to score from third and tie the game. Napoleon then skied a fly ball to center, deep enough for Encarnacion to score on a sacrifice fly and give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead after two.
 
The bats went quiet for both teams until the bottom of the seventh frame. Like the second, Davern opened the frame with a walk, and then Encarnacion followed with a single, putting runners on the corners without any outs. Gonzalez then flew out down the left-field line, but it was just deep enough to bring Davern home to make it a 3-1 game.
 
The Mustangs ran into trouble in the top of the eighth when the Fighting Owls loaded the bases with one away. A wild pitch brought in Harford's second run of the day, making it a 3-2 game, but the Mustangs were able to work their way out of trouble to hang on to the lead.
 
Monroe added some more in the bottom of the eighth. Marquis Orozco legged out a high chopper in front of the plate to get on, and stole second with one away. Shadrach Meulens then ripped a ground-rule double to left, scoring Orozco to make it a 4-2 Mustang lead. Meulens moved up to third on a fly out by Davern, and then came in to score on a line-drive single by Encarnacion, making it a 5-2 ballgame.
 
Urena went 7.1 frames, striking out 10 batters and allowing just two runs on two hits to improve to 4-1 on the year. Jason Alvarez picked up his sixth save of the season after striking out the side in the ninth. Harford starter Trevor Sprinkle falls to 5-2 after giving up two runs in five frames.
 
Encarnacion finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Meulens hit a double in a 1-for-4 effort, scoring once and knocking in another run. Davern went 0-for-2, but drew two walks and scored twice in the win. Napoleon batted 2-for-3 and plated a run.
 
The Mustangs are back in action tomorrow, May 5, in a doubleheader against Community College of Rhode Island at Dick Caswell Field. The Mustangs will celebrate Sophomore Day between games. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.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).