Bronx, NY – The Sacred Heart Baseball team made it two wins in a row Friday night, defeating St. Peter's,7-2, in the opening game of the Frisch Invite on the campus of Fordham University. Starting pitcher Kody Kerski (Waterbury, CT) notched the win for the Pioneers, pitching seven scoreless innings on just four hits and striking out five Peacocks. Sacred Heart is now 2-7 on the season. 

After surrendering a lead-off base hit and a hit by pitch, Kerski was able to avoid trouble in the first inning, getting left fielder Robert Moore to weakly ground out to first base with two men on base to end the inning. Kerski was able to regroup from there and keep the Peacocks off the board through seven innings. Kerski's confidence seemed to grow as the game went on, escaping a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning to preserve the Pioneers' lead. 

Right hander Zach Hopf earned the loss for the Peacocks, giving up six runs on eight hits in seven innings of work. 

Pioneers had the gloves working all game long, making a couple diving plays to steal hits away from the Peacocks. Freshman Brian Lamboy (Manalapan, NJ) made a nice diving stop and throw out to end the second inning, while Billy McDonough (Ballston Spa, NY) made an impressive diving catch in left field in the fourth inning. The Pioneers also turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the seventh inning.  

Senior Dan Perez (Seymour, CT) put the Pioneers on the board first in the fourth inning, pulling a Hopf fastball over the right field wall to give the Pioneers the 1-0 lead with a solo home run, his first of the year. 

The Pioneers struck next in the sixth inning with McDonough hammering a Hopf pitch down the right field line for a triple to score freshman Jesus Medina (New York, NY). Medina, who was off on the pitch, easily scored from first base after leading off the inning with a single up the middle. John Murphy (Seymour, CT) came up next for the Pioneers, driving home McDonough with an opposite field double down the line. 

Sacred Heart would double their lead in the seventh inning, piling three more runs on the Peacocks. Medina would single up the middle again, this time scoring catcher Rocco Gondek (Glastonbury, CT) to stretch the lead to 4-0. Next batter up for the Pioneers, sophomore center fielder Keaton Flint (Charlton, NY), would also single up the middle scoring Medina and freshman Victor Sorrento (Monroe Township, NJ) from second and third to put the Pioneers up 6-0.

The final run of the day for the Pioneers came in the eighth inning. Senior Dave Boisture (Highland Mills, NY) would single home Perez to make the score 7-0. Perez kept the inning going with a two out triple down the right field line, before scoring on Medina's single.

St. Peter's scored in the eighth inning off sophomore right hander Dan Wertz who came on in relief of Kerski. Rob Moore singled up the middle to score first baseman Nicholas Henriquez. St. Peter's also scored in the ninth inning. Center fielder Matt Mancini singled home Sean Henry to make the final score 7-2. 

Sacred Heart is back in action tomorrow against the host Fordham Rams on the second day of the Frisch Invite. First pitch again slated for 3:30 PM.

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