MADISON, N.J. (March 10, 2024) – It was very much a college baseball Sunday afternoon vibe at Naimoli Ballpark, as both the Sacred Heart University baseball team and Fairleigh Dickinson struggled to find a path to 27 outs on the mound. In a back-and-forth affair in the finale of the Northeast Conference series, SHU narrowly missed out on an opening-weekend sweep, coming up just short in an 8-7 loss to the Knights. Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.), Joey Skarad (Stamford, Conn.) and Ronan Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) all hit solo home runs for the Pioneers. Nick Quagliato drove home the winning run for FDU with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth.
 
In a game which saw only seven scoreless half-innings, SHU (3-9, 2-1 NEC) got things started in a hurry, as Simonelli cracked his first home run of the season leading off the ballgame. FDU (2-11, 1-2 NEC) responded with four runs in the home half of the first, including RBI singles from Brelon Harden and Tommy Verga, to stake out an early 4-1 lead.
 
Sacred Heart got two right back in the top of the second on a two-run single by JW Fitzgerald (Westport, Conn.), after which the game had seen seven runs scored and just eight outs recorded. The Pios still trailed 5-3 heading to the fourth, but got one each in the fourth and fifth to even things up. In the fourth, Skarad led off with his first dinger of the season. In the fifth, Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) singled to left leading off and eventually scored on an RBI single to right by Tyler Galletti (Plainview, N.Y.).
 
From there, the game see-sawed back and forth several times. FDU went up 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth, on an RBI infield single by Verga. SHU leveled at 6-6 in the top of the sixth, as Kovalchik dropped down a squeeze bunt to plate Fitzgerald. The Knights reclaimed the lead at 7-6 in the home half of the sixth, when Justin Sierra singled to center and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
 
FDU would hold the one-run lead into the ninth inning, but SHU would not go quietly. Donohue cracked a one-out solo home run, his first collegiate bomb, to draw the Pios level at 7-7.
 
Left-hander Owen MacDonnell (Londonderry, N.H.) came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth for Sacred Heart, but it did not go well. Hunter D'Amato legged out an infield single on the left side leading off, and then stole second. Franklin Gomez followed with a single of his own, which pushed D'Amato to third. After an intentional walk to load the bases, the Pios turned to right-hander David Aufiero (Glen Head, N.Y.) in a near-impossible situation, with the bases loaded, nobody out and the winning run on third. Aufiero issued a walk to Quagliato and FDU came away with the 8-7 victory.
 
Right-hander Elijah Foster (Plainfield, N.J.) started for the Pios but did not have his best stuff. He threw only the first inning, allowed four runs on three hits, and issued four walks as well. Right-hander Charlie Costello (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) took over from there and fired 87 pitches (60 strikes) over seven solid innings of relief. He surrendered three runs on seven hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three. MacDonnell (0-2) suffered the loss in the ninth.
 
Right-hander Zac Capps threw 61 pitches, but just 32 strikes, while slogging through the first four innings for FDU. He conceded four runs on three hits, walked four, hit a batter for good measure and struck out three. The run in the ninth made a winner out of Vladimir Ceverino (1-0), who threw the final 1.2 innings for the Knights. He allowed one run on two hits, walked one and struck out three.
 
The Pioneers have midweek visits to Northeastern (Tuesday) and Yale (Wednesday) on the schedule this week, before returning to Veterans Park for their first home series of the year next weekend. SHU will host Merrimack on March 15-17.