RICHMOND, Va. (February 25, 2023) – It was cold, grey and soggy in downtown Richmond on Saturday afternoon, but everything kept coming up sunshine for Sam Mongelli (Marlboro, N.Y.). He finished the day 5-for-5 with a double and a walk, drove in five and scored twice to lead the way for the Sacred Heart University baseball team in an 11-5 victory over Virginia Commonwealth at The Diamond. The win gave the Pios a series victory over VCU for the first time in three tries, and they will look for the sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Sacred Heart (2-3) took the lead for good on a wild play in the top of the first inning. With runners at first and second, Justin Jordan (Darien, Conn.) pushed a beauty of a bunt up the third-base line and legged out an infield single. VCU (2-3) threw the ball away in an attempt to throw out Jordan, which allowed the first two runs of the game to score.

VCU got one back in the home half, on an RBI single by Will Carlone, but SHU made it 3-1 with a run in the top of the second, when Mongelli went back up the middle for his first RBI single of the day. The skies opened up when the top of the second ended, leading to a rain delay of nearly two hours. When things resumed, right-hander Mitch Hawkins (Southbury, Conn.) went to the mound and posted a 1-2-3 inning in the last of the second, which let the Pioneer bats get back to work.

Get back to work they did, with a three-spot in the fourth. Mongelli dumped one into right-center for his second RBI single in as many at-bats, and then the Pios picked up a run on a first-and-third double-steal play. Mongelli would score later in the inning when Robert Farruggio (Fairfield, Conn.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center.

VCU made things interesting, with four of its own in the bottom of the fifth, to trim the gap to one run, at 6-5. Carlone and William Bean each had two-run doubles in the frame.

SHU responded though. Right-hander Charlie Costello (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) took the mound to start the sixth inning and allowed just two hits and two walks, while striking out five and firing four scoreless innings the rest of the way. The Pioneer bats gave him some breathing room down the stretch, with two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth. Mongelli provided a two-run single to plate both eighth-inning runs, then Simonelli, Gamester and Mongelli produced consecutive RBI singles in the ninth.

Now staked to an 11-5 lead, Costello finished off his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth, including a pair of strikeouts. Hawkins (1-0) threw 3.1 innings, allowed two unearned runs on three hits and struck out three to pick up the win out of the bullpen following the rain delay.

For VCU, left-hander Christian Gordon (1-1) threw the first two innings before leaving during the delay as well. He allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits, walked two and struck out three.