WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Towson University baseball team resumed Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play on its road stand against Monmouth on Friday afternoon at the MU Baseball Field.
 
Monmouth (17-13, 12-4 CAA) jumped out to a 4-0 lead through two innings over Towson (15-16, 4-12 CAA). Keldrin Rodriguez's leadoff home run in the seventh was the Tigers' first run of the game. The Hawks added two more in the seventh and eighth innings to extend their lead to seven. Jack Hughes' home run in the ninth cut the deficit to six before Monmouth retired the final batter to win, 8-2.
Key Stats:­­

• Towson starter Dutch DeProspero (2-4) took the loss, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and two walks in 5.2 innings pitched. DeProspero struck out 10 batters faced.
• Monmouth starter Ryan Mealy (3-2) earned the win, allowing one earned run on nine hits in 7.0 innings of work. Mealy struck out five batters.

 
How it Happened:

• Monmouth jumped out to an early lead with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the first inning.
• Sam Saucke doubled the Hawks' total with his two-run double to right in the second.
• After four scoreless innings, Keldrin Rodriguez hit a leadoff home run in the seventh, cutting Towson's deficit to three.
• With two runners in scoring position in the home half, Buecker hit an RBI chopper up the middle. Two runs were scored on the play, the second by way of a fielding error, pushing the Hawks' lead to 6-1.
• Monmouth extended its lead to seven in the eighth inning after scoring two runs on three hits.
• Jack Hughes came up in a pinch-hit spot in the ninth with two outs and hit his first home run of the year over the right field fence. After that, AJ Kolb fouled out to first base to end the game.

 
On Deck:
The Tigers and Hawks continue their series with game two tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the MU Baseball Field.