Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Sacred Heart's fifth shutout in six games extended a winning streak to seven before a seventh inning rally came up just short in game two of a doubleheader split with Fairleigh Dickinson on Saturday. The loss was the first in Northeast Conference play for the Pioneers, who are now 6-1 in the league and 12-11 overall.
The two teams complete their four game series tomorrow at Harbor Yard with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm.
Completion of Game Two
In a game suspended on Friday and resumed in the bottom of the third on Saturday, it was Jason Foley, Jeff Stoddard and Baylor Sundahl combining for the shutout. Foley struck out four and allowed three hits, with no runner reaching second, in his three innings of work on Friday night. Stoddard then came on for innings four and five on Saturday, and although two runners reach in both frames, he was able to work his way out of jams on both occasions.
Sundahl worked a hitless sixth before running into trouble in the seventh. Joel Roman led off with a double and after a strikeout, Matt McCann singled to send Roman to third. The momentum swung greatly in the next at bat though when Jake Friar threw McCann out trying to steal. Sundahl would carry that momentum in the at bat, striking out the pitch hitter to secure his first career collegiate save.
The game resumed with the bases loaded for Victor Sorrento, as Fairleigh Dickinson starter Chris Kachmar ran into trouble with two outs in the bottom of the third. He hit Ted Shaw before Medina singled and Jayson Sullivan worked a walk. The overnight delay forced Ted Quinn to come on and face the situation, and he had looked to get out of it with a ground out to third base, but the first baseman dropped the ball to allow the first run of the afternoon to score. Zack Short then drew a base on balls for the only RBI of the game, giving SHU an insurance run it would not end up needing.
Sacred Heart recorded just four hits on afternoon, two each by Medina and
Alex Perry, as Kachmar and Quinn combined to silence the Pioneer bats. FDU could manage just seven base knocks of its own though, with McCann and Roman collecting two apiece.
Game Three
Down 5-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, Medina got the rally started with a one out walk. Following a strikeout for the second out, Sorrento kept hope alive with his second triple of the game to score Medina, putting the tying run ninety feet away. After looking as if they were going to intentionally walk the next better when Fairleigh Dickinson closer Ryan Brennan threw one ball to the standing catcher, the Knights elected to instead pitch and Brennan came through with a strikeout for his seventh save of the season.
The save sealed the win for Logan Frati, who pitched a quality start by going six innings and allowing three earned runs. He worked around seven hits and struck out six batters.
Medina opposed him with a quality start of his own, pitching into the seventh and giving up five runs, although only three were earned. He only allowed five hits but walked five batters. He was on the end of some bad luck in a three-run FDU fourth when an outfielder lost a ball in the lights that could have potentially ended the inning but gave Dylan Sprague a go ahead two-run double. He then came home on John Giakas' RBI single in the next at bat, giving the Knights a 5-3 advantage.
Medina gave way to
James Taubl in the seventh after walking the leadoff hitter and the sophomore proceeded to leave the runner there, working a hitless seventh with two strikeouts.
Shaw, Medina and Sullivan teamed for opening run of the game, with Shaw leading off with a single, Medina sacrificing him over and Sullivan singling him home. That was the first of six straight at bats in which the team batting scored.
Fairleigh Dickinson answered with an unearned run to tie it in the top of the second on Roman's double, but SHU quickly came back as this time it was Shaw with the RBI on a single, scoring DeFilippo after he had doubled with two outs. It was yet another FDU unearned run in the third, as McCann's leadoff single led to another tie, 2-2, when he scored on Patrick McClure's groundout. Sorrento's first triple put the Pioneers back on top, 3-2, in the bottom half as it followed Sullivan's single. On third with none away, he was stranded with Frati coming through to keep the deficit to just one.
Sorrento was one of three Pioneers with two hits, joining Shaw and Sullivan, as Sacred Heart outhit Fairleigh Dickinson 8-5. No Knight had more than one hit.
