Preview: Penn Quakers at Monmouth Hawks

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Interstat) — The Monmouth Hawks, riding a stronger overall record, host the Penn Quakers in a non-conference midweek matchup Wednesday at Monmouth Baseball Field.

First pitch is scheduled for the evening, with cloudy skies and temperatures around 85 degrees forecast.

Monmouth (19-14) enters having won three of its last four series, including taking two of three from Towson last weekend. The Hawks’ Tuesday game was a struggle, however, as they fell 17-5 to NJIT. Relief pitcher Jake Nolan provided a bright spot in that loss, throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

Penn (13-15) arrives with momentum from a series win over Cornell, capped by a 6-5 victory Sunday. The Quakers have won four of their last six games.

A key matchup will feature Penn’s recent pitching success against Monmouth’s lineup. The Quakers are expected to lean on starter Thomas Shurtleff, who has been dominant lately. In his last start Sunday, Shurtleff threw six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out seven in the win over Cornell. Over his last four outings, he has a 2.03 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 27 innings.

Monmouth will counter with Nolan, who has not allowed a hit in 3 1/3 innings of relief across his last two appearances, though both were team losses.

According to Interstat’s game simulator, the projected final score is Monmouth 7, Penn 5.

Following this game, Monmouth travels to face Stony Brook for a three-game series starting Friday. Penn continues its road swing with a doubleheader at Princeton on Saturday.