PRINCE ATHLETIC COMPLEX – The University of Rochester baseball team earned a conference series victory on Sunday afternoon at Towers Field, defeating Union College 4-3 on a walk-off 2-run single by first-year Teddy Monahan.
 
Monahan's base hit was his third of the day as the rookie finished as the offensive star of the game, going 3-for-5 with a triple, run scored, stolen base and three RBI.
 
Rochester moves to 10-15 on the season overall and is now 3-9 in Liberty League play, while the Garnet Chargers are matching with a 10-15 record. Union sits at 3-6 overall in the conference, with this weekend's series being a cross-division matchup between East and West division teams.
 
The weekend also was played in honor of URochester baseball alum Alexander Gonzalo '25, who tragically passed away last November in an accident. On Sunday, Gonzalo's family was in attendance and threw out the ceremonial first pitch, with the weekend also featuring the Towers Field batting cage being dedicated in Gonzalo's name.
 
Sunday's contest saw the starting pitchers, Zach Herzog for Rochester and Alex Casey for Union start strong, putting up a pair of zeroes in the opening two innings.
 

The Garnet Chargers got to Herzog in the third for their only runs of the game, scoring three times to take the lead. A leadoff single and walk put two runners on before a ground out made the first out.
 
Cooper Ames then laced a triple down the right field line to score two, and later came in to score on a wild pitch, moving the Garnet Chargers in front 3-0.
 
URochester looked to answer in the bottom half of the frame, getting two runners on with a Nathan Carpenter-Holmes bunt single and hit batter allowing Carlos Barajas to reach.
 
Casey escaped the jam though, getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning unscathed.
 
The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth when the Yellowjackets got a two-out RBI single up the middle by Monahan, scoring George Farley IV who reached via walk and later stole second, his team-leading 13th steal of the season.
 
After the fourth inning, three Yellowjacket relievers, Theo Beckley, Christopher Trucano and James Nelson, were terrific on the mound, holding Union to just one hit the rest of the way. Herzog finished the game going 4 innings while allowing 5 hits, 3 runs and 1 walk while striking out 3.
 
Beckley tossed three scoreless for the second straight day, allowing just one hit and striking out a pair. Trucano pitched around a leadoff walk in his inning, getting a big out on a pickoff, while Nelson did not allow a hit in a scoreless ninth inning.
 
In the seventh, the Yellowjackets chipped away again, getting another run on a two-out single by Benjamin Garber. The sophomore wrapped a single through the left side to score Monahan who laced a triple down the left field line.
 
Union relief pitcher Jack Klein pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning for the Garnet Chargers, but was tasked at getting a six-out save to preserve the win.
 
During the ninth, Carpenter-Holmes led off with a single to right. Farley was called on to bunt, but Klein botched the sacrifice play, allowing the winning run to reach base on the error.
 
The Yellowjackets continued to bunt, with Barajas laying down another sacrifice, only to reach base after Union failed to get the lead runner at third base in time.
 
With the bases now loaded, Monahan ripped his game-ending single to left field, plating the two runs, giving the home squad the victory.
 
Besides Monahan's three hits, Garber and Carpenter-Holmes each finished with two base knocks for the Yellowjackets.
 
Union's Ames finished 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI to lead the visitors. Casey also was solid on the mound, going seven frames, striking out seven batters. He allowed seven hits, two runs and two walks in the no-decision.