April 27, 2008

Box Score

TEANECK, NJ - Junior shortstop Phil Tantillo hit a two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning, scoring starting pitcher Matt Fitton ahead of him, to help the Sacred Heart baseball team sweep a four-game weekend series over Fairleigh Dickonson, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon. The win puts the Pioneers right in the thick of the Northeast Conference playoff race.

Sacred Heart, now 10-30 overall and 8-8 in the NEC, jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Ryan Lynch led off the inning with a triple and scored on a single by Chris Whittemore. Whittemore went to third on a single by catcher Steve Armato and scored on a hit by Paul Schmidt.

FDU, 9-31 and 4-11, got a run off Fitton in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Jeff Vincent.

The Pioneers made it 3-1 in the fifth when JJ Edwards singled to right and went to second when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. Whittemore again got the run home when he stroked a single to left with two outs.

After FDU got a run in the bottom of the fifth, SHU upped the lead to 4-2 in the top of the sixth when Fitton singled with one out and later scored when Tyler Santos was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

The Knights tied the score at 4-4 in the bottom of the inning when they executed a double steal to put runners on second and third with one out. Andrew Ahn drove in one run with a single and the other scored on a ground out by Vince Penacchio.

Neither team scored in the seventh, setting up the Tantillo heroics in the eighth. After Fitton was hit by a pitch with the bases empty and one out, Tantillo took a pitch off FDU starter John Meadus and drove it over the left field wall - his first of the season.

Fitton walked the leadoff man in the bottom of the eighth and head coach Nick Giaquinto lifted the freshman in favor of Chris Zaccherio. Zaccherio retired all six Knight batters he faced to earn his second save in two days.