BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – The Sacred Heart baseball team had quite a dramatic Saturday, winning both games of a doubleheader, 3-2 and 5-4, on the final play to bounce back from a game one loss by sweeping Central Connecticut State in Northeast Conference action. Victor Sorrento delivered a walkoff double in the opener before Dan Schock threw out a runner at home from right field for the final out in the nightcap, as SHU ended the day 8-2 in NEC play and 16-14 overall. 

Sacred Heart looks to take its third consecutive series to open league action when the two teams meet in game four tomorrow with a 4 pm first pitch at Harbor Yard.

Game One

The game-winning rally started when Jayson Sullivan was hit by a pitch with one out. He was forced out in the next at bat on a fielder's choice, but Zack Short beat out Central Connecticut's attempt to turn a double a play, which proved extremely crucial with Sorrento coming to the plate. Ahead 2-0 in the count, the senior fouled off two pitches before sending a 2-2 pitch to the left field warning track. Hustling around the bases, Short scored standing up to set off the swarming celebration around Sorrento at second base.

That was just the fourth hit of the game for Sacred Heart off Central starter Mike Appel, and the first earned run, as Appel found himself in a pitcher's dual with Jason Foley. The two combined to allow just 12 hits in 13.2 innings of work. Foley improved to 3-2 by working around eight base knocks in the complete game effort, striking out six against just one walk. Appel fell to 1-2, as he struck out five but walked six and hit another.

After SHU squandered scoring opportunities in both the first and second, it was CCSU striking first in the third inning with a two-out rally thanks to Nick Landell's swinging bunt single down the third base line. He then stole second, allowing him to come in on Tyler Coleman's single up the middle.

Sacred Heart did not waste anytime to come back and take its first lead, although it was all made possible in large part to a Central Connecticut error. Sullivan and Short worked back-to-back walks with one out before making a heads up base running play on an infield popup. With the entire infield converging on the ball, no one was covering the bases and Sullivan and Short took notice to each move up one bag. Again, this proved crucial when a Blue Devil recorded an error on the next play, allowing both to come home instead of what could have been the final out of the frame.

Central did not let that affect its next at bat though, as the Blue Devils came back to tie it with a score that would last until the final inning. Anrew Hinckley singled with one out and would come around to even things up when Connor Fitzsimons lined a triple past a diving Pioneer outfielder

That would be the last runner to reaching scoring position for CCSU until the seventh. SHU on the other hand did not take advantage of opportunities in both the fourth, fifth and sixth. The Pioneers had a runner reach second in all seven at bats, leaving seven runners on base in the first six innings.

This did not come back to cost Sacred Heart though, thanks in large part to Foley escaping a jam in the top half of the seventh. Following a one out single and sacrifice bunt, the decision to intentionally walk the next batter nearly backfired when a wild pitch moved both runners up ninety feet to second and third. Foley did not let this phase him though, giving the Pioneers the chance to win it in the bottom half by inducing an inning-ending ground out.

In a game where hits were hard to come by, it was Short working three walks that yielded the biggest accomplishment of the day. The junior is now the all-time leader in base on balls in program history with 85. Sullivan worked two walks himself, as the two combined to score all SHU of three runs.

For CCSU, Corey Lerche and Matt Martinez had two hits each, with Coleman finishing 1-3 with a walk.

Game Two

After Sacred Heart looked to have taken control with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, Central Connecticut came back with three of its own in the final two at bats and easily could have made it four if not for Schock's game-saving throw to Cody Doyle. That throw would not have been necessary had the Pioneers not committed an error on the potential final out of the game, extending the inning for Dean Lockery, whose single took a high hop over the first basemen to reach Schock. The error, off the bat of David Balunek, scored Martinez, who had led off with a double.

In no way did the game look as if there would be nine total runs scored, as starting pitchers Jesus Medina and Brett Susi combined to allow just one base runner through three innings, a two-out single in the top of the second. That was the lone blemish against Medina, while Susi on the other hand was perfect through three. 

Things slowly started to change in the top of the fourth, beginning with back-to-back one out singles by Lockery and Hinckley, the latter of which moved Lockery up to third. This allowed Lerche's fly out to center field to produce the first run of the nightcap. 

SHU came right back with back-to-back one out singles of its own in the bottom, courtesy of Sullivan and Short. It was then a passed ball that moved those two up to second and third, permitting Sullivan to cross home on Keith Klebart's ground out.

After Doyle threw out a runner stealing to end the top half of the fifth, it was him that worked a leadoff walk to begin the inning that would have seemed to break the game open. Schock followed that with the first of three consecutive singles. PJ DeFilippo drove in the go ahead run with a single over the third baseman's head before Alex Perry laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases. Central looked to limit the damage when a drawn in infield led to the Blue Devils cutting down the lead runner at home for the first out. Sullivan would extend the lead though, as his fielder's choice ground ball was booted to allow the bases to stay loaded. This led to one unearned run crossing home on the big base knock of the inning, Short's two-RBI single for a 5-1 advantage, which proved to be the difference in the end. 

CCSU did get back into it in the sixth though, as it was beneficiary of what would have been the third out on a strikeout if not for a wild pitch. With the inning extended, Lerche worked a walk to load the bases and Fitzsimons came through with the big hit, a first pitch swining single through the left side to score two. One of those coming home was Lockery, who began the two-out rally with a single of his own.

With runners on first and second, Medina struck out his seventh hitter of the afternoon for what was his final out. He walked just one in the seven strikeout performance, and scattered five hits. James Taubl then came on for the final inning, surviving the dramatics for what was his first career save.

Once again it was Short leading the offense, as he finished 2-3 with the two RBI's. DeFilippo added two hits, one run and an RBI.

Lockery's seventh inning single was his third of the nightcap and he scored two of Central Connecticut's runs. Fitzsimons went 2-3 with two RBI's.