EMMITSBURG, Md. – For the third consecutive game, the Sacred Heart baseball team was edged by Mount St. Mary's by one run, this time falling victim to a walk off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a 4-3 defeat in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. The loss gave SHU its first Northeast Conference series defeat of 2015, as it falls to 14-22-1 and 7-5 in the conference. MSM, who bounced back to win the final three games after falling in the first, moves to 9-25 and 7-9 in the league.

Each team scored one run in the eighth to set up the ninth inning dramatics. Sacred Heart went ahead for the second time on the afternoon when Victor Sorrento singled home Jesus Medina with two outs, giving the Pioneers a 3-2 advantage. Medina had led off the frame with a walk before moving up to second a sacrifice bunt by Jayson Sullivan. Sorrento's go ahead base knock came after Zack Short was intentionally walked and a strikeout. The Mountaineers answered with a two out RBI single of their own by Brendan Dabagian. The base hit scored Brian Parreira, who had singled with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch.

SHU went 1-2-3 in the top half the ninth to set up the eventual game winning situation in the bottom half. A leadoff walk by Tommy Quealy would ultimately lead to the game-winning run, as he was sacrifice to second by Ryan Owens. An intentional walk and fly out brought Zach Hostetter to plate with two outs, where he would step up with the series clinching single to center field.

Sorrento had two of the four Sacred Heart hits, finishing 2-4 with two RBI's. Medina went 1-3 with a walk and scored twice, while Sullivan both scored and drove in one run. Matt Cooney provided a solid five-inning start, allowing just two earned on five hits and four walks. Dan Wertz then came on for two scoreless innings before James Cooksey pitched the eighth inning and John Sostarich threw in the ninth, earning the loss.

Owens, Hostetter, Parriera, and Joshua Lenig all had two hits for the Mount. Hostetter drove in two runs while Parreira scored twice. One day after earning the saves in both games of the doubleheader on Saturday, Jordan Lawson this time was credited with the win, pitching the final 2.2 innings and allowing just one earned on one hit. He relieved Chad Diehl, who pitched the first 6.1 innings and gave up only one earned run on three hits. 

The two teams traded runs in the third through sixth innings. It was Mount St. Mary's scoring first in the bottom of the third, as Hostetter had his first of two, two out RBI's. His single brought home Andrew Clow, who had been hit by a pitch with two outs before advancing to second on a walk.   SHU came right back to tie it in the fourth, also with two outs. Sorrento singled to score Sullivan, who had been hit by a pitch to leadoff the inning. The Pioneers then loaded the bases after Sorrento's single as Alex Perry reached on an error and Ted Shaw walked, but Diehl would escape the bases loaded jam with a groundout.

The Pioneers took their first lead of the game in the fifth. Sullivan plated Medina with a sacrifice fly to right field. Medina had gotten to third base after a one out single thanks to a passed ball and wild pitch in Sullivan's at bat. The lead would hold until the sixth, when again MSM came through with a two out RBI. This time it was Joshua Lenig singling to score Brian Parreira. Parriera had singled to lead off in what would be Cooney's last pitch of the afternoon. Wertz retired the next two on a groundout and strikeout, but Parreira advancing to second on the groundout proved costly when he scored on the single.

The Pioneers will look to regroup on Tuesday with a 3:30 pm first pitch at cross-town rival Fairfield. Sacred Heart defeated the Stags 10-9 last Wednesday. SHU will then welcome defending champion Bryant to Harbor Yard on Friday for a 3 pm start, in what will be its first home game since April 7.