FLORENCE, S.C., February 29, 2020 – The Monroe College Mustangs baseball team got back to work on Saturday, playing a pair of games in the Stinger Invitational, hosted by Florence-Darlington Technical College. Monroe dropped its opening contest against Potomac State College of WVU, 8-3, but bounced back to defeat host Florence-Darlington, 5-4. Monroe leaves the day with a 3-5 overall record on the young season.
 
GAME 1: POTOMAC STATE 8, MONROE 3
The Mustangs' weekend in South Carolina did not get off to a great start, as the Catamounts jumped out to an early lead in Saturday's opener. Potomac State's first two batters walked in the bottom of the first, then a sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position. A passed ball then brought in the first run of the game, and a ground out brought in another to leave Potomac State up, 2-0.
 
The Catamounts had the bases loaded for Hayden Almond in the second. Almond came through with a two-RBI single, making it a four-run lead for Potomac State.
 
Daniel Alfonzo drew a walk to open the top of the fourth for Monroe. Christian Hernandez then blasted his first homer of the season, bringing in Alfonzo in the process to cut the deficit in half and make it a 4-2 game.
 
The Catamounts were able to pad their lead in the bottom of the fifth. Caleb Taylor hit a one-out single, and moved all the way to third on a pair of passed balls. A sacrifice fly then brought him in to make it a 5-2 game. Devon Neal then hit a solo homer to make it a 6-2 lead for Potomac State.
 
Jose Martinez and Joseph Caba both drew walks to start the top of the sixth for the Mustangs. Martinez was then caught stealing third. Ian Clemente then drew another walk, and Joe Rosselli was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jared Paladino drew yet another walk, bringing in Caba to make it a 6-3 game.
 
Potomac State had the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth after a double, a walk and an error, and then a passed ball brought in the seventh run for the Catamounts. Another batter was hit by a pitch, and then a sacrifice fly by Taylor made it an 8-3 game.
 
Ashton Staubs picked up his first win of the season for the Catamounts after tossing four innings and allowing two runs. Trevor Thomas notched his first save. Patrick Morrissey shouldered the loss for Monroe after giving up five earned runs in five frames while striking out three.
 
Hernandez finished 1-for-4 for the Mustangs with a two-run homer. Alfonzo made his season debut in the game, going 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Paladino batted 2-for-3 with a double, while Emile Boies also hit a double in a 1-for-4 effort. Martinez hit 2-for-2 with a triple in the game.
 
GAME 2: MONROE 5, FLORENCE-DARLINGTON 4
The Mustangs managed to bounce back against the tournament hosts in their second game on Saturday. ­­With two outs in the top of the third, Hernandez drew a walk to keep the inning going. Caba then singled to center, moving Hernandez to third to put runners on the corners. A passed ball then allowed Hernandez to score and make it a 1-0 game.
 
The Mustangs took advantage of an error by the Stingers in the fourth to take a big lead. Nathaniel Alvarez hit a leadoff single to center, then a sacrifice bunt by John Garcia put him on second. Joan Sosa reached on an error by the shortstop to put runners on first and second. With two outs, Paladino singled to left, bringing in Alvarez to double the lead. Leivin Rodriguez then doubled into left, scoring both Sosa and Paladino to push the lead to four. Hernandez followed with a double of his own, plating Rodriguez to leave the Mustangs up, 5-0.
 
The Stingers had two runners on with one out in the bottom of the fourth for Charlie Corum, who doubled to center to bring in both runners and make it a 5-2 game. He then scored on a ground out by Justin Hanvey to get the Stingers within two. Gabe Rentz then hit a solo homer to bring the home team within a run, but starter Olvis Genao escaped the inning after that to hang on to the 5-4 lead. Genao got through another two innings without giving up another run before Gabriel Rodriguez came on to close it out in the seventh with the same 5-4 score.
 
Genao picked up his second win of the season, improving to 2-1 after going six innings with six strikeouts while allowing four runs. Gabriel Rodriguez earned his first save of the year with a perfect seventh inning that included two strikeouts. Conor Campbell took the loss for the Stingers to fall to 1-2.
 
Hernandez had another solid game, hitting 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI. Leivin Rodriguez went 1-for-4 with a double, a run and two RBIs. Paladino finished 2-for-4, scoring once and knocking in another run while also stealing a base. Sosa batted 2-for-4 with a run. Alvarez hit 1-for-3 with a run.
 
The Mustangs will play the same schedule tomorrow, March 1, opening the day against Potomac State at 12:30 before finishing up against Florence-Darlington at 3 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 12 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Mustangs), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).