In front of MLB Draft scouts, Monmouth star pitcher Trey Dombroski dazzled. The junior out of New Jersey punched out 13 Quinnipiac batters, helping his club defeat the Bobcats, 7-4.

The fireworks started early in Hamden after Monmouth junior outfielder Alex Barker smoked a home-run over the centerfield wall, giving the Hawks a 3-0 lead.

“Those first two batters, they got on base, you gotta limit Barker, you gotta limit (James) Harmstead, you have to limit those two guys from being able to get extended and drive baseballs, both those guys got up with guys on base, and they produced,” said Quinnipiac head coach John Delaney.

The Bobcats fought right back. Quinnipiac junior infielder Ian Ostberg got the best of Dombroski in the top of the second, sending a fly ball over the fence in left-center to put the Bobcats on the board.    

Quinnipiac first year catcher Danny Melnick cut into the deficit with a solo home-run of his own in the bottom of the fourth, trimming the Monmouth lead to 3-2.

The Hawks extended their lead in the top of the fifth, after junior infielder Harmstead sent a missile over the left field wall for a two-run home run, pushing the Monmouth lead to 5-2. 

Things got interesting in the sixth inning after umpires visited the mound to check the glove, hat and belt of Monmouth’s Dombroski, which didn’t have anything illegal, but a fan down the first base line was not very happy about the situation and was ejected by the first base umpire. 

Despite allowing five earned runs, Quinnipiac first year pitcher Brandyn Garcia put together a solid outing on the mound, allowing six hits in 6.1 innings to go along with 11 strikeouts.

“Going into the game I knew I had to attack, I did that and then one pitch was too much middle, after that I had to reset. I had to forget about it and keep going,” said Garcia. 

The Hawks added onto their lead in the eighth inning after fifth-year outfielder Jake Catalano doubled to center field and sent two runners flying around the bases to give Monmouth a 7-3 lead. 

Melnick, who went 3-4 on the day, delivered for Quinnipiac again in the bottom of the eighth, shooting a line drive into the gap to score senior infielder Kyle Maves from second base and trimmed the deficit to 7-4.

Monmouth pulled Dombroski shortly after that, but the star put together an impressive 8.1 inning outing, striking out 13 batters, the most for a Hawks’ pitcher since 2016 and only allowed six hits and three earned runs. 

The Bobcats couldn’t get anything going in the ninth as Stephen Aldrich picked up his third save of the season for Monmouth, who remains undefeated in MAAC play at 7-0.

With the loss, Quinnipiac dropped to 7-20 overall and 1-6 in MAAC play.

The Bobcats and Hawks continue their series tomorrow, April 15 at 1 p.m.