BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (April 2, 2023) – Looking for a series win on the road against the defending Northeast Conference champion, the Sacred Heart University baseball team held an 11-5 lead in the middle of the seventh on Sunday at Long Island University. The Pios could not make it stick. The host Sharks rallied with two in the seventh and four in the eighth to tie the game, before Christopher Hund provided the walk-off single in the ninth, as LIU pulled out a 12-11 victory at LIU Baseball Stadium. Mark Smith (East Haven, Conn.) went 3-for-5 with his first home run of the season in defeat for SHU.
It was the first NEC series loss of the season for Sacred Heart (12-12, 8-4 NEC), which has three on the road at league-leading Central Connecticut State next weekend.
Things looked good for the Pios heading into the later stages of Sunday's series finale. Clinging to a 6-5 lead through five innings, SHU plated four in the sixth and added another in the seventh to seemingly break the game open. In the sixth, back-to-back walks and then a hit batsman loaded the bases for Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.), who was also hit by a pitch to drive in his second of three runs on the day. Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.) pulled a single through the left side to chase home a run and Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) legged out an infield single to plate another, before Smith dropped a long RBI single down the right-field line to cap the inning's scoring.
In the seventh, Ryan Donnelly (Fairfield, Conn.) singled to center, stole second and then scored when Smith drove a ball the other way and into the gap in right-center for an RBI double.
As the game went to the bottom of the seventh though, the tables turned, and it was all LIU (7-19, 6-6 NEC) from there. The Sharks scratched two back immediately, in the bottom half of the seventh. Max Samson singled and Carlton Harper doubled to open the frame, which set the stage for back-to-back sacrifice flies, from Jake Mastillo and Jack Power.
The roof caved in for the Pios in the eighth, as four unearned runs allowed LIU to tie the game. An error, a double, and another error brought the first run home before an out was recorded. Samson and Mastillo made the mistakes even more costly, as the former put an RBI single into left field, and the latter drove a game-tying triple into the gap in right-center, just out of the reach of a diving Justin Jordan (Darien, Conn.) in center.
SHU got a runner to second, but no further, in the top half of the ninth, and then LIU walked it off with a quick two-out rally in the bottom half. Connor Price whacked a double down the left-field line and then scored when Hund followed with a single inside the left-field line. It was the third time in 11 days Sacred Heart lost in walk-off fashion.
The Pios have a non-conference tilt scheduled for Tuesday at Hartford. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Fiondella Field in West Hartford, Conn.
