BRIDGEPORT, Conn.— The Sacred Heart baseball team picked up the doubleheader sweep over FDU on Friday afternoon. The resurgent Pioneers (11-22, 5-3 NEC) battled back to pick up a 6-5 victory in game one and scored 10 runs in the last three innings to win game two 15-9 over the Knights (8-17, 6-4 NEC).

Game One

Matt McCann kickstarted the Knights in the first inning with his leadoff triple against sophomore Brent Teller. Bobby Romano drove him in with his RBI groundout to give FDU the 1-0 lead. The Pioneers didn't fret as junior Alex Perry picked up the one out walk and advanced to third on Anthony Capozziello's ground-rule double to dead center field. Senior Keith Klebart evened the game up with his RBI groundout. FDU traded another run courtesy of McCann's RBI single up the middle in the top of the second. 

The Pioneers took the lead on junior Dan Schock's two run blast off Demetrops that hit off the façade of neighboring Webster Bank Arena in left field in the bottom of the second inning. Schock added to the lead in the bottom of the fourth with his RBI double to left center field to give SHU the 4-2 lead. FDU would get three runs on three Pioneer errors in the top of the fifth to take the 5-4 lead. 

Capozziello's stellar hitting continued in the bottom of the fifth as he singled to right field and advanced to second on the miscue by right fielder Jason Fatzinger. Klebart delivered his second RBI of the game with a double to deep center field to tie the game at 5-5.  Sophomore Baylor Sundahl pitched a hitless sixth inning to preserve the tie.

SHU continued to rally as DeFilippo opened the top of the sixth with a double down the left field line off Demetrops. After Schock was intentionally walked for the force out, captain Jake Friar laid down a textbook sacrifice bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. Freshman Elijah Brown lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score DeFilippo and give SHU the 6-5 edge. Graduate Mike Lembo locked down the seventh inning to pick up the save. 

The Pioneers featured three hitters with multi-hit games with the three juniors, Capozziello, Schock and DeFilippo. Schock also tied a career-high three runs batted in. Teller pitched four and two thirds in the no decision. Sundahl earned his second of the season in relief.

Game Two

Sacred Heart wasted no time in game two picking up the first run of the game in the bottom of the first on Capozziello's sacrifice fly to score Brown. The Knights tied it up in the top of the second Fatzinger scored on the error by freshman Austin Markmann at third base with the bases loaded. Freshman Kevin Czapelski escaped the bases loaded jam with a fly out to Ryan Brennan. FDU extended the lead to 2-1 off Evan McDonald's leadoff home run in the top of the third. 

The Pioneers responded with a four-run bottom of the third inning, as junior Cody Doyle scored the first run on an error by Jorge Iza at second base. Captain Ted Shaw lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to score Perry and give SHU the 3-2 edge. Markmann and DeFilippo plated back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 5-2.

FDU did not back down as they put together a seven-run top of the fourth inning highlighted by two RBI doubles by Brennan and Iza to take a 9-5 lead. SHU continued to fight in the bottom of the fourth as Knight's starter Logan Frati proceeded to load the bases on three straight walks with one man out. An error by Iza led to two runs scoring.  After a pitching change to reliever Dillon Forsythe, Capozziello would score on passed ball to bring SHU within one. Markmann then plated his second RBI single of game two to tie the score at 9-9. Sophomore Hal Shaw worked a scoreless frame in the top of the fifth to hold the game even. SHU would get the go-ahead run on a RBI single by Capozziello off Jake Sciarotta in the bottom of the fifth to score Doyle from second base. 

After a hitless sixth inning by junior Ethan Lonardelli, the Pioneers opened the game open with a big bottom of the sixth inning as they scored five runs on no hits and two errors. After SHU loaded the bases on three straight walks by PJ Weeks, Doyle and Brown picked up back-to-back RBI walks off reliever James Donlon. Perry then lifted a sacrifice fly to left field. The last two runs of the game came courtesy of miscues by the Knights defense to bring the eventual final to 15-9. Lonardelli worked another hitless inning to close out the game and earn his first career save. 

Six Pioneers picked up a hit in game two with Markmann and DeFilippo leading the way with two apiece. Doyle and Brown both picked up three runs scored. Capozziello also pushed his hitting streak to 13 consecutive games.

The Pioneers look to sweep the season series against FDU tomorrow at 11:00 am.