Stonehill at Sacred Heart
March 17 - 3 p.m.
Veteran's Park - Bridgeport, Conn.
March 18 (DH) - Noon & 3 p.m.
George H.W. Bush Field - New Haven, Conn.
It's back-to-back weekends of firsts for the Sacred Heart University baseball team. Last weekend was the first ever Northeast Conference meetings for the Pios against the Spartans of Norfolk State. This weekend, SHU takes on first-year NEC program Stonehill for the first time. The Pioneers took two out of three at Norfolk State, which marked the first time the team won its opening NEC series since 2019.
The Pios will host their home opener on Friday at 3 p.m. at Veteran's Park in Bridgeport, as originally scheduled, but there have been changes to the remainder of the weekend schedule. With Sunday's forecast calling for low temperatures, the two teams will now meet for a doubleheader at noon on Saturday instead. With potential wet weather overnight Friday, Saturday's games will be contested at historic George H.W. Bush Field (formerly Yale Field) in New Haven, which features an artificial surface, as well as lights, if needed.
Though SHU went just 12-41 last season, the team found success on its home field in 2022. The Pioneers were 10-7 at Veteran's Park a year ago, and are 19-12 at home over the last two seasons.
Live audio will be available via MixLR for Friday's game, and potentially Saturday's as well. Live stats will be available for all three games.
LAST TIME OUT
It was the rubber game of a three-game NEC series at Miller Field on Sunday afternoon, but there was not much drama in it. The Pios pounded out 18 hits to plate 15 runs in the series finale, on the way to a 15-1 victory over host Norfolk State. Right-hander Jack Kramer threw six scoreless innings, while Robert Farruggio socked his first home run of the season.
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
Sacred Heart (6-7, 2-1 NEC) boasts the reigning NEC Player of the Week in Ryan Donnelly, after the graduate student slashed .400/.571/.867 with two triples and a home run over four games last week. Jack Kramer also earned a nod as an NEC Prime Performer for the week, after firing six scoreless innings with six strikeouts in Sunday's series finale at Norfolk State. Sam Mongelli continues to lead the offense with a 1.285 OPS and a .477/.558/.727 slash line through 44 at-bats (21-for-44).
SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
Stonehill (1-9), which is in the process of transitioning to Division I, is in its first year of NEC play, after leaving the Division II Northeast-10 Conference, of which it was a founding member. The Skyhawks were the lone idle NEC squad last week, and this weekend will be the team's inaugural NEC contests. Conor Kiely paces the offense with a .351/.429/.378 line through the first 10 games. Head coach Pat Boen has been at the helm of the Skyhawks since 1998 and guided the team to three Division II NCAA Championship appearances, as well as the 2010 NE10 title. He won his 600th career game last season.
ON THE MOUND
Sacred Heart projected starters:
Friday: Jake Babuschak (RHP)
Season stats: 12.0 IP, 22 H, 13 R (11 ER), 11BB, 13 K, 8.25 ERA, 2.75 WHIP
Last start: March 10 at NSU (ND), 4.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Saturday (Game 1): Michael Boyian (RHP)
Season stats: 10.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 8 K, 2.61 ERA, 1.16 WHIP
Last start: March 11 at NSU (ND), 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 5 K
Saturday (Game 2): Jack Kramer (RHP)
Season stats: 17.1 IP, 16 H, 9 ER, 11 BB, 18 K, 4.67 ERA, 1.56 WHIP
Last start: March 12 at NSU (W), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Stonehill projected starters:
Friday: Zack Gleason (RHP)
Season stats: 9.1 IP, 13 H, 10 ER, 9 BB, 7 K, 9.64 ERA, 2.36 WHIP
Last start: March 5 vs. Army (ND), 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Saturday (Game 1): Brendan Kelly (RHP)
Season stats: 10.2 IP, 18 H, 21 R (20 ER), 7 BB, 5 K, 16.88 ERA,
Last start: March 10 at UNO (L), 2.1 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 0 K
Saturday (Game 2): TBD
NICE TO MEET YOU
This weekend marks the first-ever meetings between the Pios and the Skyhawks on the baseball diamond.
NEXT UP
SHU is scheduled to make a midweek trip to Boston College on Wednesday, then returns home to host first-year NEC member Maryland Eastern Shore in a three-game series March 24-26. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, 1 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday at Veteran's Park.
