WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Interstat) — The Monmouth Hawks rallied for four runs in a chaotic seventh inning to overcome an early deficit and defeat the Penn Quakers 5-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Monmouth Baseball Field.

The game, which concluded under evening lights, pivoted dramatically in the bottom of the seventh. Penn had carried a 3-1 lead into the frame, but Monmouth capitalized on wild pitches and timely hitting to seize control.

The decisive inning began with Monmouth trailing by two. After a strikeout, Colin Richter singled and advanced to third on two wild pitches by Penn reliever Josh Katz. Sam Saucke walked, and Richter then scored on a third wild pitch to cut the deficit to 3-2. Saucke moved to second on that same pitch. Wyatt Hunt followed with a single to put runners at the corners.

Chris Walsh then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Saucke to tie the game at 3-3. Hunt stole second, and after another walk, Nick Lovarco delivered the critical blow, a single to second base that scored Hunt and gave Monmouth its first lead at 4-3. Simmi Whitehill also scored on the play when the ball was mishandled, providing a crucial insurance run.

Lovarco finished 2 for 3 with a home run, two RBIs and a walk. His solo homer in the second inning had initially put Monmouth on the board.

Penn had built its lead with single runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings. Ryan Taylor drove in two runs, including an RBI single in the sixth that made it 3-1. The Quakers outhit the Hawks 9-7 but stranded eight baserunners.

Monmouth’s bullpen proved dominant, silencing the Penn offense over the final three innings. After starter Nick Tamburro allowed no earned runs over four innings, David Horvath earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out two. Jake Danyluk pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

Penn’s relievers, aside from the turbulent seventh, were excellent. Luke Pokrovsky, Thomas Egbert, John Cerwinski and Benjamin Moulin combined for 5 1/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief with six strikeouts before the seventh-inning outburst.

The loss dropped Penn to 13-16 this season. The Quakers had entered the game having won four of their last five. Monmouth improved to 20-14, rebounding from a 17-5 loss to NJIT the previous day.

The result defied pregame projections. While Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a 7-5 Monmouth victory, its ELO system had given Penn a 53.4% probability to win.

Penn opens a three-game series at Princeton on Saturday. Monmouth travels to face Stony Brook for a three-game set beginning Friday.