SELDEN, N.Y., April 16, 2022 – After a dominant victory at Suffolk County Community College on Friday, the Monroe College Mustangs baseball team rolled to another pair of wins over the Sharks on Saturday to complete a three-game series sweep out in Selden, N.Y. The Mustangs won Game 1, 14-5, after six innings, before a 6-2 victory in Game 2.
 
GAME 1: Monroe 14, Suffolk 5 (6 INN)
The Mustangs jumped out to a three-run lead in the top of the second in Saturday's opener. Dante Paolucci led off with a single into right, and then Salix Felix drew a walk. Jaison Andujar followed with a double to center, scoring Paolucci to get Monroe on the board. A wild pitch then brought in Felix, and Luis Villalba followed that up with a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Andujar and leave the Mustangs up, 3-0.
 
The Mustangs rallied once again in the top of the third. Monroe had a runner on first with two outs when a pinch-hitting Luis Tejada drew a walk. Felix then singled into left, scoring Andres Castro from second on the hit, but an error in left field allowed Tejada to come around and score and make it a 5-0 game. Felix then stole third, and an errant throw let him come home, making it a 6-0 lead for Monroe.
 
The Sharks had runners on second and third with one out in the third when Daniel Deutsch grounded out to short, bringing Nick LoMonaco in to score to make it a 6-1 game. Anthony Amato then scored on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 6-2.
 
The Mustangs exploded in the top of the fourth in Game 1. With two on, Miguel Toribio singled into center, but an error by the center fielder allowed a second run to score to make it an 8-2 game. Nathaniel Alvarez followed with an RBI single to put Monroe up by seven. Shortly after, Felix hit an RBI single into left, scoring Alvarez to push the lead to 10-2. With the bases loaded, Villalba singled into center, plating another run to make it an 11-2 game. Angel De La Cruz then beat out an infield single to bring in another run, and then Kristopher Salinas walked to plate one more. Toribio then hit into a fielder's choice, but beat out a throw to first to prevent a double play, bringing in Villalba to leave the Mustangs on top, 14-2.
 
Suffolk went on to put two runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth in on a Jackson Capellan two-run homer, and then Alex Knopf hit a solo home run in the fifth, but the Mustangs closed the door after that for a 14-5 victory after six frames.
 
Je-andrick Lourens picked up the win after tossing four frames with seven strikeouts, improving to 3-2 on the year. Derek Perez took the loss for Suffolk to fall to 1-2.
 
Felix hit 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs in the Game 1 victory. Andujar also hit 2-for-3 with two runs, an RBI, a triple and a double. Villalba hit a double in his own 2-for-3 effort, scoring once while knocking in two runs. De La Cruz, Salinas and Alvarez all had matching 1-for-3, one-run, one-RBI games. Toribio batted 1-for-4 with two RBIs and a run.
 
GAME 2: Monroe 6, Suffolk 2
The Sharks jumped out to their first lead of the series in the bottom of the first in Game 2. With a runner on second, Peter Montana singled into right, scoring LoMonaco to put Suffolk up, 1-0.
 
It took five innings, but the Mustangs finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth. De La Cruz reached on an error to open the frame, and then Alvarez tripled to right to bring him in and tie the game. With one out, Salinas singled in Alvarez to put Monroe on top, and then Toribio tripled to right, bringing in Salinas to go up, 3-1. Castro beat out a grounder toward short, bringing Toribio in to push the lead to 4-1. Two batters later, Felix kept the inning going with a single into right to put runners on first and third. The Mustangs then went for a double steal, with the throw going down to second and Felix doing his best to delay the tag, allowing Andujar to score from third to leave Monroe up, 5-1.
 
Salinas reached on an error with one out in the seventh, putting him on second base. He moved to third on a passed ball, and then Toribio plated him with a sacrifice fly to left, putting the Mustangs up, 6-1. The Sharks managed to get one run back in the bottom of the seventh, but they were stymied from there, as the Mustangs held on to win by four.
 
Roman Dorosh had a strong start for Monroe, tossing six frames of one-run ball while striking out 10 batters to earn the win and improve to 2-4. John Keane took the loss for Nassau to fall to 3-1.
 
Toribio hit 1-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and a run scored in the win. Alvarez also tripled, scored a run and knocked in another in a 1-for-3 game. Salinas scored twice and plated a run in a 1-for-3 outing of his own. Felix also hit 1-for-3 in Game 2. Castro batted 1-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base.
 
The Mustangs will look to ride the momentum of three straight wins into a busy week. Monroe plays the first of seven games this coming week on Thursday, April 21, when the Mustangs visit the County College of Morris for a nine-inning contest in Randolph, N.J. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 14 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 Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs). Read Full Article