MIDDLETOWN, NY – Monroe Express baseball were unable to keep their three game winning streak alive Wednesday afternoon, falling in a 14-4 defeat to the Orange Community College Colts inside Colt Baseball Field. With the loss, the Express even their record at 10-10.

The Express fell behind early and couldn't come back in their ten run loss, where Orange opened up scoring in the first inning, when Kurtis Martin doubled on a 2-1 count, scoring one run. The Colts followed this by scoring four runs in the second inning. The big inning for Orange came thanks to singles by Richard Alvarez, Alex Loeb and Derek Sherman and a groundout run by Joe Castellanos.

Hecnel Perez punched a double to left field in the second to get the Express on the board early, after Jose Zabala Rodriguez darted across home plate. Trailing by 12, Monroe showed late fight in the seventh, when a George Espinal double ran in Beltre and Beverley across home plate. In the end, Monroe struggled to contain the hot offense of the Colts, giving up 14 runs.

Ryan Salerno pitched Orange to victory, lasting five innings, allowing five hits and two runs while striking out three. Licsandro Vargas-Mejia threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen.

Frank Ballar took his second loss as the ace for Monroe in the end. Ballar allowed six hits and six runs over one and one-third innings, striking out one and walking one.

Orange racked up 14 hits on the day.  Alvarez, Castellanos, Heilforth, Martin and Sherman each racked up two hits in the ball game. For the Express, the blue and gold managed to collect seven hits in the game.  Diaz and Farrell each collected two hits to lead Monroe.

The Express will play the fifth of their 11 game road trip Thursday (Mar. 30) in a non-conference stint against the Westchester Community College Vikings inside Vikings Field in Valhalla, NY. First pitch is scheduled at 3:30 PM.

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