BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (March 15, 2024) -- Only 15 games into the season, the resilience of the Sacred Heart University baseball team has already been well-tested. Between dropping the team's first eight contests and a lineup which includes four first-year students, it is rare to find a team that has had to come together as quickly as the Pioneers have.
The resiliency was on full display in Friday afternoon's home opener at Veterans Memorial Park, as SHU posted early runs and then responded each time Merrimack cut into the deficit. First-years Ronan Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) and Peter Link (Holmes, N.Y.) combined for six of the team's 12 hits and Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) launched a pivotal three-run homer in the middle innings. Sacred Heart eventually landed the final haymaker in the eighth inning to put away a 14-8 win in the opener of the Northeast Conference series.
"A lot of energy coming into this day," said Kovalchik after the game. "We were excited to have our home opener and got a nice win."
The Pioneers have made scoring first a common theme lately and did so again on Friday. Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.) provided the game's first baserunner as he lined a single past the sprawling reach of Merrimack shortstop Samuel Sherman before swiping second. Simonelli would be brought home by Donohue, who roped a single into left field for the game's first run.
The SHU offense was not done there. Tyler Galletti (Plainview, N.Y.) added an RBI single of his own up the middle and Link deposited one off the top of the center field fence for a two-run double, to put the Pioneers up 4-0 after one.
After a calm start to the game, the Warriors offense began to heat up in the fourth, as two seeing-eye singles put right-hander Jake Babuschak (Jobstown, N.J.) in his first jam of the afternoon. With runners on first and second, Babuschak was on the cusp of escaping the situation when Braydon Dolbashian made him pay, as he crushed a second-pitch fastball well over the center-field fence for a three-run shot to make it a one-run game.
The Pios responded immediately, as Kovalchik came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth with two on and two outs. The big left fielder turned on one and sent Tyghe Healy's offering over the left-field fence for his first round-tripper of the season, to extend the lead to 8-3.
"I was trying to get a job done for my teammates," said Kovalchik regarding is approach in the clutch situation. "I got in a two-strike count with two outs and was trying to battle. I got a pitch to hit and I drove it."
The middle frames provided more of the same, as the Warriors and Pioneers combined to score five runs across the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. The biggest missed opportunity of the game for the Warriors came in the seventh inning, as they loaded the bases with two outs. Working past the 100-pitch mark, Babuschak was able to grind through an intense at-bat and emphatically punched out Dawson Bryce to close out his outing and depart with an 11-4 lead.
Although trailing by eight, the Warriors refused to lay down without a fight. After Christian Gemelli and Hayden Bond both launched homers off Pioneers reliever Jack Kramer (Glen Rock, N.J.), it was suddenly a 12-8 game. However, as was the theme ton the afternoon, the SHU offense was able to answer back, and added two runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the game away. Link provided his second run-scoring double of the day, while Joey Skarad (Stamford, Conn.) chipped in a sacrifice fly.
After firing a shutout last Friday, Babuschak (2-3) ran his personal scoreless streak to 17.0 innings before surrendering the Dolbashian three-run homer in the fourth. The senior right-hander would use 102 pitches (71 strikes) to get through seven innings. Though he allowed nine hits and a walk, he was able to use seven strikeouts to avoid any huge innings and was charged with just four runs. The defense was of little help to the bullpen, as a pair of relievers conceded four runs in just two innings of work, but three of those were unearned thanks to three SHU errors in the eighth.
Over four innings, Healy (0-2) had trouble navigating the Pioneers lineup, as the southpaw surrendered eight runs on seven hits while walking six and laboring through 99 pitches (51 strikes). The Warriors bullpen did not fare much better, as four relievers allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits over four innings.
The NEC rivals will square off twice more at Veterans Park this weekend, both Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.
