Baseball Looks to Snap Losing Streak Against FDU
4/29/2021 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Looking to round out the last month of the regular season, the Sacred Heart University baseball program will host Fairleigh Dickinson in a Northeast Conference showdown April 30-May 2, with the first pitch on Friday at 3 p.m. The Pioneers hope to break their three-game losing streak and secure a spot in the NEC Championships, slated for May 27-30, with 12 conference matchups remaining.
SHU is fourth in the conference standings with a 9-6 NEC record, while the Knights currently sit seventh at 5-13 in the league.
The Red and White will compete on Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the team will adorn gold laces to fight pediatric cancer for the Go4theGoal Foundation.
Chase Jeter, Ryan LaMay and Jake Babuschak will be the weekend starting pitchers for the Pioneers. After 32 innings on the mound, Jeter is on top of the charts with a 1.75 ERA against conference rivals and currently tied for third with four wins. LaMay has a pair of victories under his belt including a 2-0 shutout against Stony Brook and a 13-3 blowout against NEC foe Wagner, while Babuschak is tied with one other as the only two pitchers to not allow a home run this season.
The Knights will have an uphill battle against the explosive offensive weapons of Austin Markmann and Elijah Brown. Markmann capitalizes on his league-best 119 at-bats with 30 RBIs and 10 doubles to hold second in both, sits third with five home runs and is fourth with 35 hits. Brown leads the league with 20 stolen bases, putting him in a scoring position for his 22 runs against NEC teams.
Since 2006 these two teams have faced each other and SHU currently leads the matchup 46-16, though FDU has won the last three contests.
Following the series against Fairleigh Dickinson, SHU travels to Army West Point for a 3:05 p.m. game on April 4.
