SPARTANBURG, S.C. (March 4, 2023) – The Sacred Heart University baseball team chalked up 11 runs on 16 hits across a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, but came up empty at Russell C. King Field. Ryan Donnelly (Fairfield, Conn.), Sam Mongelli (Marlboro, N.Y.) and Dennis Gamester (West Haven, Conn.) all hit their first home runs of the season – with Gamester notching the first of his career – but Pioneer issued 23 walks across the two games as host Wofford swept the non-conference twinbill.
SHU fell to 3-5 with the losses, while Wofford improved to 9-1 and has won nine in a row. The two teams will meet again in the series finale on Sunday at 3 p.m. at King Field.
Game 1: Wofford 9, Sacred Heart 3
After falling behind 2-0 early, SHU got a run back in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs and nobody on, Donnelly went deep to right field for a solo home run, which was the first in a SHU uniform for the Bridgeport transfer.
Wofford extended the lead to 4-1 with a pair in the last of the fifth. Marshall Toole led off the frame with his own solo homer to right field, his second of the season, and Dixon Black later added an RBI groundout. Sacred Heart cut the gap to 4-2 in the top of the sixth, when Mongelli led off with a single and came all the way around to score on a double to left-center by Joey Skarad (Stamford, Conn.).
Wofford broke the game open with a four-spot in the home half of the sixth. Toole – who finished 3-for-5 and drove in four -- had the inning's biggest blow, with a two-run single back up the middle. SHU got one back in the top of the eighth, as Skarad was hit by a pitch and later scored on a single to left-center by Robert Farruggio (Fairfield, Conn.). Wofford tacked on one in the last of the eighth to create the 9-3 final.
Right-hander Jack Kramer (Glen Rock, N.J.) threw the first four innings for SHU. He allowed two runs on two hits and five walks, struck out five and suffered the loss (0-2).
Right-hander Matthew Marchal (2-1) took the ball and tossed the first five innings for Wofford. He allowed just one run on two hits, walked one and struck out seven on the way to the win.
Game 2: Wofford 15, Sacred Heart 8
Mongelli continued his success at the plate with a leadoff home run for an early 1-0 lead to open the nightcap. After surrendering a pair in the home half, SHU regained its lead in the top of the second inning, when Skarad walked to bring in Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.), which was the beginning of a five-run rally that also included RBI singles off the bats of Donnelly and Farruggio.
SHU maintained its 6-4 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning, where Wofford's David Wiley hit a grand slam off of SHU reliever Jack Bebbington (Monroe, Conn.). Dennis Gamester (West Haven, Conn.) led the attempt to get SHU back in the game with his first collegiate homer in the top of the seventh inning, followed by a Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.) single to left field, but the Pios were unable to get a sustained rally going as Wofford went on to the seven-run victory.
Right-hander Jake Babuschak (Jobstown, N.J.) started the second game for the Pios, threw the first three innings, allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and six walks, struck out six and did not factor in the decision. Bebbington (0-1) suffered the loss after a rough one-third of an inning in the fourth, where he was charged with four runs on one hit and four walks.
Right-hander Zac Cowan (2-0) came into the game in the top of the second and pitched the next 4.2 innings for Wofford. He did not allow a run on one hit and struck out seven.
