FORT PIERCE (FL) – The Delaware Valley University baseball team swept Monmouth College, 5-1 and 4-3 in its season-opening games on Saturday in Fort Pierce, Florida.
It was also the first contests of the year for the Fighting Scots. Both matchups were seven innings.
The Aggies got out to a hot start in the opener with three runs in the first inning. With two outs, junior center fielder Kyle Wenger singled to left center, senior designated hitter Matt Dewald reached on an error and then the two advanced on a wild pitch. Sophomore left fielder Sammy Amos drove them in with a base hit to left center. Senior catcher Corey White followed with a RBI double to center.
DelVal added another run in the second when Dewald was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Monmouth ended the shutout bid in the sixth when right fielder Grant Myers smacked a triple into left center, scoring pitcher Austin Hardy. Amos added an RBI single in the seventh for insurance.
Senior righty Jake Richard went the distance to begin his final season, allowing just the one run on six hits and fanning 12. Hardy took the loss, surrendering all five runs, all unearned, and six hits with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
Amos totaled two hits (four at bats), three RBI and one run scored. Dewald and White had a RBI apiece and Dewald also crossed the plate twice. Sophomore shortstop Kevin Crill, Wenger and Amos each scored one time.
The Fighting Scots struck first in the nightcap when Myers came home on an error in the second. Crill then scored on a miscue in the third to even things up. DelVal took the lead in the fourth when junior left fielder Mike Anusky touched the plate on an error.
In the top of the fifth, shortstop Brandon Harroun tied the game again with a single to right that plated catcher Dayton Ince. The Aggies went on top for good with two runs in the bottom half. With one out, Wenger, Dewald and Amos recorded three straight singles. Amos' base hit brought home Wenger. Later, junior right fielder Nate Cummings drew a bases-loaded walk and Dewald trotted home as the insurance run. It proved crucial as Monmouth tallied the final run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Sophomore right-hander Jeremy Hefele had the second complete game of the day for DelVal, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out five. Tyler McDonald was tagged with the loss, going 4.1 innings and giving up four runs, one earned, on three hits. He struck out three batters.
Amos and Cummings each had a RBI and Crill, Wenger, Dewald, Amos and Anusky all scored. Hardy, Ince and Harroun all drove in a run for the Fighting Scots and third baseman Matt Inness, Myers and Ince each touched the plate once.
The Aggies have another twinbill on Sunday, March 6 against Bethany College (1:00 p.m.).