POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK - Taking the field for its second postseason contest of the year, No. 3 Siena Softball fell short of No. 2 Monmouth in round two of the 2019 MAAC Championship Thursday afternoon. The Saints fell to the Hawks, 11-1, in five innings at Gartland Athletic field in Poughkeepsie, New York, and will now play in an elimination game later on in the afternoon.

Having advanced to the winner's bracket of the MAAC Championship for the first time in 11 appearances with a 1-0 win over No. 6 Fairfield on Tuesday, Siena (22-24, 13-7) began the contest with a bang, courtesy of 2019 MAAC Player of the Year Madysen Cossack. Taking her place as the second Siena batter of the day, the senior blasted her tenth home run of the season off 2019 MAAC Pitcher of the Year Alyssa Irons to give the Saints their first lead over the Hawks at any point this season. Finishing the game 1-2 at the plate, Cossack tied her single season high in both long balls and RBI (45) sitting one away from tying the program single season record in the latter.

After two frames of scoreless play, Irons and the Monmouth (33-16, 16-4) bats got their revenge in the bottom of the second, taking hold of a lead that they would never relinquish. Senior Jasmine Higa singled up the middle with two outs to knot the game at one, while 2019 MAAC Co-Rookie of the Year Lindsey Baron reached on a fielding error to put the defending conference champions ahead.

With Second-Team All-MAAC selection Maddie McMahon entering in relief of classmate Brooke Hughes after two innings in the circle, Monmouth blew things open in the home half of the third, batting around and plating seven runs to take a 9-1 advantage. Beginning the inning with back-to-back home runs, the Hawks then followed with a pair of doubles and a batter being hit by a pitch. Following Hughes' re-entry into the circle, the designated home team capped off the frame by scoring runs on an RBI ground out, a runner advancing on a muffed throw and another RBI double. A two-run Monmouth big-fly in the bottom of the fourth signaled the end of Hughes' (7-12) time in the game, with freshman Sarah Dowalo garnering the final two Siena outs defensively.

Following the loss, Siena enters the loser's bracket of the MAAC Championship and will face No. 5 Niagara in an elimination game later this afternoon for the right to advance to the semifinal round. The Purple Eagles advanced after defeating No. 6 Fairfield, 3-2 on a walk-off home run earlier in the morning, earning revenge after losing to No. 4 Iona on a walk-off grand slam Tuesday afternoon. The teams split the regular season series in Niagara University, NY on April 6, with the Purple Eagles taking game one, 4-3, before the Saints ended the day with a 7-6 win.  Niagara holds a 3-0 advantage all-time in the MAAC Championship, taking wins over the Saints in 1990, 1993 & 2013.