WEST HAVEN, Conn. (March 29, 2023) – The Sacred Heart University baseball team showed its resilience on Wednesday afternoon, scratching out a pair of runs in the eighth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit and even things at 3-3 on the road at Yale. Unfortunately, the Pios were never able to find a fourth run, and the host Bulldogs eventually walked things off in the 14^th inning for a 4-3 victory in the non-conference tilt at historic George H.W. Bush Field.

Yale (6-12) got things started in the bottom of the second, when Jake Williams led off with a single to center, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out RBI single to left by Beck Milner. Sacred Heart (11-10) answered in the top of the third, as Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.) took a leadoff walk before back-to-back bunt singles loaded the bases with nobody out. The Pios would settle for just one run though, as Simonelli scored on an RBI groundout by Robert Farruggio (Fairfield, Conn.).

The missed opportunity to plate more loomed large immediately, as Yale struck for two in the home half of the third. Alec Atkinson reached on a one-out error and Jimmy Chatfield followed with a double down the left-field line. Both runners would come home to score when Williams tucked a double inside the right-field line.

Then, things died down at Bush Field. SHU went in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, while Yale went quietly in the fourth and fifth as well. The Bulldogs threatened in the sixth, but a nifty, glove-hand flip to the plate by right-hander David Aufiero (Glen Head, N.Y.) foiled a safety squeeze attempt to keep the deficit at two.

Both teams put runners in scoring position in the seventh but came up empty, and then the Pios cobbled together a pair of runs in the eighth to knot things up. Sam Mongelli (Marlboro, N.Y.) and Justin Jordan (Darien, Conn.) opened the frame with consecutive singles through the left side, before Mongelli stole third and Jordan took second on an errant throw from the catcher. Another RBI groundout from Farruggio cashed in the first run, which brought up Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.) with one out and the tying run at third. McGuire chopped one over the head of the pitcher and into no man's land behind the mound. The second baseman Williams barehanded and came home with the ball, but too late to nab Jordan, and the game was tied, 3-3.

Yale left a runner at third in its half of the eighth and then both teams went in order in the ninth, which meant extra innings.

The 10^th inning went without any scoring.

So did the 11^th.

And the 12^th.

The 13^th as well.

With the game already over 3.5 hours old, and both the sun and the temperature falling, it was Yale which struck for the victory in the last of the 14^th. Atkinson led off the inning with a sharp single to center field. Atkinson moved to second on a single to left by Chatfield, but the former was then picked off second base and retired trying to advance to third. Chatfield moved up to second base on the play, and would score the winning run two batters later, when Williams – who had scored the game's first run way back when – ended things by yanking a single down the left-field line.

The teams combined to use 13 pitchers to throw 375 pitches on the afternoon. Right-hander Trent Price (Oxford, Conn.) suffered the loss (0-1) as the final of eight SHU pitchers in the contest. He threw the final 1.1 innings and allowed one run on three hits and a walk. Right-hander Ethan Lewis (1-2) threw three scoreless innings for Yale, allowed one hit and struck out two to pick up the win.

The Pios are set to head to Long Island University for a three-game Northeast Conference series this weekend. Once again, wet weather is expected on Saturday, which means the weekend schedule is still somewhat unsettled.