BRIDGEPORT, Conn – A pitcher's duel for most of the afternoon, the Sacred Heart Pioneers finally broke through with four runs in the eighth inning to defeat Mount St. Mary's 4-0 Thursday afternoon at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. The Pioneers improve to 5-0 in the Northeast Conference this season and 18-12 overall.

After a rough outing last weekend against NJIT, senior ace Kody Kerski (Waterbury, CT) was back to his old dominant ways Thursday afternoon. The right-hander struck out nine, and walked just one in eight scoreless innings to record his sixth win of the season. Junior Dan Wertz (Cross River, NY) closed the door in the ninth for the Pioneers.

Kerski was cruising early on, allowing just an infield hit in his first five innings of work. Kerski then escaped trouble in the seventh, striking out Ryan Owens with two outs and a man on third base to keep the game scoreless. Catcher Derick Horn (Valatie, NY) also came up with a big throw in the inning, gunning down Kory Britton attempting to steal second base when the Mount had runners on the corners with one out.

After squandering a few chances early on, the Pioneers broke out in the eighth inning. After an intentional walk to Keith Klebart (Orange, CT) put runners on first and second with two outs, sophomore Jesus Medina (New York, NY) came through with a clutch base hit to right field to score both Matt Charmello (Rossmoor, CA) and Klebart. Charmello and Klebart moved over the second and third on a wild pitch. Charmello pinch ran for senior captain Derick Horn (Valatie, NY), who hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Horn moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Ted Shaw (Southington, CT).

Freshman shortstop Zack Short (Hurley, NY) kept the rally alive, smacking a double down the left field line to score Medina and put SHU up 3-0. Short would end up scoring and putting SHU ahead 4-0 on a throwing error from Mount second baseman Brandon Scott on an infield hit from sophomore Jayson Sullivan (Charlton, NY).

The Pioneers and the Mountaineers continue their four-game series tomorrow afternoon with a doubleheader at Harbor Yard beginning at 5:00 pm.