ASHEVILLE, N.C. (February 19, 2023) – Justin Jordan (Darien, Conn.) went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, but it was not enough for the Sacred Heart University baseball team to match the seven-run effort of UNC Asheville in the last of a three-game series, as the Pioneers fell, 7-2, at Greenwood Field. Justin Honeycutt (1-0) picked up the win for the Bulldogs, as he struck out four and allowed only one hit over five innings.

UNC Asheville (3-0) took an early 2-0 lead in the first, when Robbie Burnett drove in Ty Kaufman to start the scoring. Kaufman – who went 3-for-5 and scored three times to pace the Bulldog attack – crossed the plate again in the third, where the hosts added three more runs.

SHU (0-3) got on the board in the top of the fifth inning, when Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.) dropped down a bunt single and later scored on a groundout to the infield off the bat of Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.). Any momentum for SHU was stopped in the sixth as UNC Asheville added two more runs on a groundout and a wild pitch.

The last-chance effort for the Pioneers came on Jordan's double to right-center to bring in Mark Smith (East Haven, Conn.) in the eighth, but Dawson Salter finished the game on the mound for the Bulldogs in the ninth. He struck out two of four SHU batters to finish off the weekend sweep for the home team.

Right-hander Cooper Thompson (Clinton, Conn.) took the loss (0-1) for SHU, as he struck out two and allowed four runs on six hits in 2.2 innings pitched.

SHU heads back down south next weekend for a three-game set at Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 24-26. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1 p.m. on Sunday, at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.