NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Sacred Heart pitching staff gave up just one earned run and the Pioneer offense was opportunistic by scoring five runs on six hits, as SHU took a rain delayed game one, 5-3, against Mount St. Mary's on Friday afternoon at New Britain Stadium. The teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader but the decision was made to postpone game two until tomorrow shortly after the conclusion of game one.

Sacred Heart moves to 4-2 in the opening game of Northeast Conference series this season, improving to 14-6 in league play and 23-19 overall to increase its second place lead to four games.

With a SHU error earlier in the afternoon giving Mount (11-30, 8-17 NEC) two unearned runs, it was the Pioneers capitalizing on a Mountaineer error to plate the eventual game-winning run in the sixth. With the rain beginning to fall, it was leadoff man Jesus Medina reaching on the error before advancing up to second on yet another blunder, a passed ball. PJ DeFilippo moved him up to third with a ground out, proving crucial when Cody Doyle lifted a sacrifice fly to right field that Medina was able to cross home on standing up to make the score 4-3.

Immediately following the final out in the next at bat, a 1:43 rain delay ensued, and when the two teams returned to the field it was Jeff Stoddard coming on to shut the door for the final three innings to pick up his second save of the season. It did not come easy, with runners reaching scoring position in both the seventh and eighth, but each time he was able to keep the lead in tact. 

Sacred Heart added insurance in the eighth with DeFilippo doubling before coming around to score on Doyle's single. This insurance proved to not be needed as Stoddard worked his first 1-2-3 frame in the ninth, completing his third scoreless inning. He allowed just one hit and struck out two.

That put the finishing touches on the pitching performance that began with James Taubl, who faced several dilemmas but managed to escape with just one earned run charged against him in his five innings. He worked around five hits and two walks but left with the game tied 3-3 due to two unearned runs. James Cooksey came on to pitch a scoreless top of the sixth, therefore earning his fifth victory of the year.

DeFilippo led the SHU offense with a 2-4 day at the plate, and along with Medina, was one of two Pioneers to score two runs. Doyle finished 1-2 with two RBI's and a walk, and Ted Shaw worked three base on balls, scored once, and drove in another.

Tabul's first jam came in the opening inning when Ryan Owens led off with a double on a 0-2 pitch and Alex Kriss immediately followed with a first pitch swinging single. The first big play was made when Owens was cut down at the plate on a grounder to first baseman Victor Sorrento, setting up an opportunity for Taubl to end the frame with a double play ball, which he did in the next at bat.

Sacred Heart took little time to build on the momentum, jumping out to an early lead after leadoff batter Shaw was walked. He moved up to second on Jayson Sullivan's groundout and then in bizarre fashion, came all the way home on a passed ball that the Mount catcher was not able to locate.

SHU tacked on to that advantage in the second, as the first three hitters to come to the plate all reached. First it was Medina and DeFilippo roping back-to-back singles before Cody Doyle attempted to sacrifice them over, but was instead walked on four pitches to load the bases. The Pioneers added two without the benefit of a base hit when Medina came in on a wild pitch during the next at bat, and following a strikeout, Shaw drove in DeFilippo on a groundout.

Taubl was able to keep the lead at three in the third despite a leadoff double, once again using a double play, but was unable to keep Mount St. Mary's off the board in the fourth due in large part to an error that led to two unearned runs. The error came with one out and a runner on first, giving the Mountaineers life and they took advantage with Vaughn Taylor's RBI single that scored Tyler Post, who drew a base on balls with one out. Patrick Causa, who had reached on the error, advanced to third on that single, which proved important when he was able to score on Chris Wessels' sacrifice fly.

It took one swing of the bat for Mount to tie the game in its next at bat. Down 0-2 in the count after three consecutive foul balls, Owens sent the next pitch over the left field fence to make it 3-3.

That was part of a 2-2 performance for Owens, who also added a walked and recorded a sacrifice bunt. Not other Mountaineer reached based twice without the help of an error.

With game two moved due to the weather, the two teams will now play a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. The series finale has been moved to Sunday at 1 p.m.