BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (May 13, 2023) – It was a festive Senior Day on Saturday afternoon for the Sacred Heart University baseball team. The Pioneers kept the pregame party rolling right into the first game, where a 14-run second inning paved the way to a 26-5 blowout of visiting Dartmouth at Veterans Park. The second game was more competitive, with SHU needing a six-run sixth to rally for a 6-5 victory and the doubleheader sweep.
 
With the wins, Sacred Heart improves to 23-26, while Dartmouth concludes the ugliest season by winning percentage in program history at 3-38.
 
Though on its Northeast Conference bye this weekend, SHU got some help on the out-of-town scoreboard as well, with Maryland Easter Shore and Merrimack both losing the second straight game of their respective series. Should UMES lose again tomorrow at Stonehill, the Pios would clinch their NEC Championship berth while idle.
 
Game 1: Sacred Heart 26, Dartmouth 5
 
SHU turned the first game into a laugher early. After the game was tied 2-2 through the middle of the second, the Pioneers sent 19 men to the plate in the bottom of the second, collected nine hits and plated 14 runs to break the game wide open. Joe Emerson (Carlstadt, N.J.) and Sam Mongelli (Marlboro, N.Y.) both cracked three-run home runs in the inning, the former with his second of the year to left-center and the latter with his team-leading 13^th of the campaign down the left-field line.
 
From there, it was all academic, but the Pios tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the third anyway, for good measure. Ryan Donnelly (Fairfield, Conn.) – who had three doubles and drove in seven in the game – had the inning's biggest blow, with a two-run double down the right-field line.
 
Senior right-hander Josh Cohen (Oakland, N.J.) – freshly named as the male recipient of SHU's Alvin Clinkscales Unsung Hero Award on Friday – took the ball for the Senior Day opener and made the most of his first collegiate start. Cohen (1-0) threw the first two innings and surrendered just a pair of unearned runs on one hit, walked two and struck out one to earn his first career win.
 
Right-hander Clark Gilmore (2-5) did not have as much fun on the other side of the ledger. He was charged with 12 runs (nine earned) on nine hits and a walk, with three strikeouts, over just 1.2 innings on the mound.
 
Game 2: Sacred Heart 6, Dartmouth 5
 
The second game was a much different story, with Dartmouth building up a 4-0 lead through the first four innings. The Big Green got an RBI single from Zackarie Casebonne in the second, a solo home run to dead center from Peter O'Toole in the third, and a two-run shot to left-center from Ryan Schwartz in the fourth. It was the first homer of the season for both O'Toole and Schwartz, as Dartmouth finished the season with just 16 home runs in 41 games.
 
Meanwhile, the Pioneers had only three hits through five innings, but then got things going and claimed the lead with a six-spot in the bottom of the sixth. A walk, a single and an errant pickoff throw by the catcher put two in scoring position and nobody out for Donnelly, who cashed them both in with a two-run single to left to cap a nine-RBI day. Donnelly later scored on a single down the right-field line by Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.), who scored in-turn when Nick Jaskolski (Seaford, N.Y.) drilled a double into the gap in right-center. Jaskolski later scored on a sacrifice fly by John Greene (Naugatuck, Conn.) to round out the inning's scoring.
 
Dartmouth picked up a run in the eighth, as Max Zajec singled and scored from first on a double down the left-field line by Jackson Hower. Right-hander Tyler Briggs (Franklin, Conn.) erased a one-out single with a game-ending double play in the last of the ninth to nail down his fifth save of the season and preserve the 6-5 victory.
 
The Pios took a staff approach to the second game as well, and got some work for right-handers Jack Kramer (Glen Rock, N.J.) and Jake Babuschak (Jobstown, N.J.) in the process. Kramer worked a scoreless, hitless first to get things started, and Babuschak (5-4) got the win with two perfect innings of relief, as he struck out three while working the fifth and sixth innings.
 
Left-hander Trystan Sarcone started strong but ran out of gas, as he ultimately ceded three runs on five hits and a pair of walks, while striking out seven over 5.1 innings. Right-hander Jack Metzger (1-8) took over, fanned the flames in the sixth, and was charged with three runs of his own (one earned) on four hits, with a pair of strikeouts, over the final 2.2 innings.
 
SHU has one final non-conference game at Quinnipiac on Tuesday, before traveling to Merrimack to round out the regular season with a three-game series May 18-20.