BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 6, 2019 – The Monroe Express baseball team dropped a pair of games to the Kingsborough Community College Wave on Saturday at the Kingsborough Athletics Field. The Express fell, 12-8, in game one, and 12-5, in game two, to drop to 2-15 (1-6 Region XV) on the season, while Kingsborough moves to 8-9 (8-3 Region XV) with the pair of victories.
 
GAME 1: KINGSBOROUGH 12, MONROE 8
The Express stuck first in the top of the first inning. A.J. Torres led off with a double, and Devon Marrero reached on a dropped third strike, scoring Torres on the Wave's error. Marrero took third on a passed ball, and after two strikeouts, Nicanor Marte doubled to right, scoring Marrero to give the Express a 2-0 lead.
 
Monroe added to their lead in the top of the third. Marrero reached on a fielding error by Kingsborough, stole second and scored on Jesus Tejada's RBI triple, extending the lead to 3-0.
 
Kingsborough got on the scoreboard to cut into the Express' lead in the bottom of the third. Gestral Fulgencio drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Salvatore Armato moved Fulgencio to third with a groundout to short before John Vento doubled to left to cut Monroe's lead to 3-1.
 
And after a few scoreless frames, the Wave tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. A single and a fielding error put two on with one out for Armato's whose fly ball moved Robert Hart to third. Vento singled to bring Hart home and cut Monroe's lead to 2-1 and Peter Lombardo knocked in Jaycob Montero with an RBI single to tie the game at three.
 
Monroe answered in the top of the sixth to retake the lead. Marte led off the inning with a triple and scored on Emanuel Veras' sacrifice fly to retake the lead. Juan Jorge followed with a single, took second on a balk and third and home on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 5-3.
 
Monroe continued their five-run frame, as Valdez walked, stole second and scored on Torres' RBI double to take a 6-3 lead. Marrero's single scored Torres from third, before Tejada knocked in Marrero with another single to give the Express an 8-3 lead.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the Wave loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a catcher's interference call. Chris Dominguez relieved Andy Rodriguez, and got two quick outs, but a dropped fly ball sent the inning spiraling out of control, as the Wave scored nine runs on four hits to take a 12-8 lead.
 
And while Marte reached on an error to lead off the top of the seventh, Armato retired the next three Express batters to give Kingsborough the come-from-behind victory.
 
Dominguez (0-2) took the loss for Monroe, while James Barasch (2-2) picked up the win for Kingsborough.
 
Rodriguez got the start for Monroe, allowing just one earned run on four hits, striking out and walking six over 5.0 innings pitched.
 
Torres, Tejada and Marte each tallied two hits to lead the way for the Express. Torres went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI, while Tejada went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI. Marte went 2-for-3 with a double, triple, walk, run scored and RBI.
 
GAME 2: KINGSBOROUGH 12, MONROE 5
Kingsborough got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first inning against Bryan Diaz and the Express. Armato led off the frame with a walk, advancing to second on Vento's single. A passed ball moved the runners to second and third, before Lombardo's sacrifice fly gave the Wave a 1-0 lead. Jonathan Fonseca followed with an RBI double, scoring Vento to extend the lead to 2-0.
 
The Wave extended their lead with four more runs in the bottom of the second, taking advantage of three Monroe errors in the inning to extend their lead to 6-0.
 
In the top of the third, Monroe loaded the bases on Bianyor Germosen's double, Marte's walk and Jorge's hit-by-pitch. Valdez reached on a dropped fly ball to score a pair, cutting the Wave's lead to 6-2, but Veras struck out, preventing the Express from cutting the lead any further.
 
Kingsborough answered to extend their lead to 7-2 on Pena's RBI groundout in the bottom of the third, before adding two more in the bottom of the fourth.
 
Down 9-2, the Express again cut into the Wave's lead in the top of the fourth. Germosen, Daniel Coradin and Marte again loaded the bases with a pair of singles and a walk, before Jorge's fielder's choice cut the lead to 9-3. Albert De Los Santos' sacrifice fly made it 9-4, and Veras' RBI triple scored Jorge, cutting Kingsborough's lead to 9-5.
 
Vento extended Kingsborough's lead back to five with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth, while back-to-back solo home runs by Fonseca and Walfi Regalado in the bottom of the sixth made it a 12-5 lead.
 
And while the Express put two on in the top of the seventh, Rafael Hidalgo struck out to end the threat, and give the Wave a 12-5 victory.
 
Diaz (0-2) took the loss for Monroe, while Armato (3-1) earned the win for Kingsborough.
 
Germosen led the way for the Express, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Marte went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Veras added a triple, going 1-for-2 with an RBI, while the Express tallied four stolen bases and three hit-by-pitches.
 
The Express will wrap up their four-game series against Kingsborough Community College on Sunday, April 7 when they take on the Wave at 12 p.m. at the Kingsborough Athletics Field in Brooklyn, N.Y.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 28 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 Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus as of the fall of 2017, has nine varsity and junior varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.

For more information about the Monroe Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter (@MonroeExpress) and Instagram (@MonroeExpress).