Games 19, 20 & 21
Sacred Heart at Stonehill
Northeast Conference
Friday, March 22 - Noon (DH)
Sunday, March 24 - 1 p.m.
Lou Gorman Field
Easton, Mass.
LIVE on NEC Front Row

Fresh off five quality wins in its first six Northeast Conference games, the Sacred Heart University baseball team will have to be on guard against a classic trap situation on the road this weekend. After series wins against two opponents expected to compete for postseason berths, the Pioneers travel for three against a Stonehill team which went just 10-20 in league play last season. The Skyhawks have dropped their first three NEC contests this year, but have shown signs of life in their non-conference slate and will be playing on their home field for the first time all season.
 
Wet weather has forced some changes to the weekend series, which will now open with a noon doubleheader on Friday at Lou Gorman Field in Easton, Mass. Saturday will be fit only for ducks, with up to two inches of rain expected in southeastern New England. The teams will wrap up the weekend with the third game of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m., as originally scheduled.
 
All three games are scheduled to air live on NEC Front Row, with live stats available as well.
 
THE LAST WEEK
SHU took care of business against Merrimack in its first home games of the season last weekend, as the Pios swept away the Warriors, 14-8, 4-1 and 6-4. SHU jumped out front early in each contest and, in the words of Sunday starter Elijah Foster, "The bats are hot right now; it's a bad day to be a pitcher for the other team." Peter Link went 7-for-10 with a pair of doubles, scored three times, drove in four runs and posted a gaudy 1.669 OPS in the series to be named as an NEC Prime Performer for the week.
 
Sacred Heart dropped a midweek contest at Bryant, 7-4, on Tuesday.
 
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
SHU (7-11, 5-1 NEC) has won six of nine since wrapping up its early-season southern trips and is looking to make it three straight series wins to open the NEC campaign. After last weekend, the Pioneers have their team on-base percentage up to .343, which is still only 10^th out of 12 teams in the league. A weekend rotation consisting of ace Jake Babuschak and a pair of first-years – Foster and Joe Trombley – headlines a pitching corps which ranks second in the NEC in ERA (6.07).
 
Among qualified pitchers who have pitched at least one inning per game their team has played, right-handed reliever Charlie Costello is tied for the fewest batters walked in the NEC (2).
 
SCOUTING THE SKYHAWKS
Stonehill (4-9, 0-3 NEC) has dropped four in a row, including getting swept at Fairleigh Dickinson last weekend in its first NEC games of the season, 7-3, 7-5 and 9-0. The Skyhawks have three games in hand on the rest of the league, as their opening-weekend series at Maryland Eastern Shore was washed away and will have to be made up at a later date. Stonehill has shown signs of life though, as it has beaten Bryant twice and took one game apiece from Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic.
 
Trey Ciulla-Hall is seventh in the NEC in OPS (1.023) and paces the Stonehill offense with a .388/.492/.531 slash line through 13 games (19-for-49).
 
ON THE MOUND
Sacred Heart projected starters:
Friday (Game 1): Jake Babuschak (RHP)
            2024 stats: 28.1 IP, 28 H, 16 R (15 ER), 9 BB, 21 K, 4.76 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
            Last start: 3/15 vs. MER (W), 7.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Friday (Game 2): Joe Trombley (RHP)
            2024 stats: 12.2 IP, 13 H, 5 R (4 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, 2.84 ERA, 1.26 WHIP
            Last start: 3/16 vs. MER (W), 5.2 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Sunday: Elijah Foster (RHP)
            2024 stats: 15.2 IP, 11 H, 9 R (8 ER), 17 BB, 23 K, 4.60 ERA, 1.79 WHIP
            Last start: 3/17 vs. MER (ND), 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 7 K
 
Stonehill projected starters:
Friday (Game 1): Ryan Douglas (RHP)
            2024 stats: 17.2 IP, 22 H, 13 R (10 ER), 2 BB, 9 K, 5.09 ERA, 1.36 WHIP
            Last start: 3/15 at FDU (L), 4.2 IP, 8 H, 7 R (6 ER), 1 BB, 2 K
Friday (Game 2): Zach Gleason (RHP)
            2024 stats: 16.1 IP, 16 H, 11 R (7 ER), 11 BB, 17 K, 3.86 ERA, 1.65 WHIP
            Last start: 3/16 at FDU (ND), 4.0 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
Sunday: Peter Haas (RHP)
            2024 stats: 14.1 IP, 16 H, 17 R (13 ER), 10 BB, 10 K, 8.16 ERA, 1.81 WHIP
            Last start: 3/17 at FDU (L), 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R (5 ER), 2 BB, 5 K
 
PREVIOUSLY AGAINST STONEHILL
The two met on the second weekend of NEC play a year ago, with SHU sweeping the series. The Pios walked things off at the Vet on Friday, 4-3, via a Justin Jordan RBI single, and then followed up with a doubleheader sweep at Yale's George H.W. Bush Field on Saturday, 13-5 and 7-4. Babuschak threw 5.1 innings of three-run ball with six strikeouts in the series opener.
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE SKYHAWKS
Last season's three-game series in Connecticut is the only previous meetings between the two schools in the sport of baseball. This weekend will mark SHU's first-ever visit to Lou Gorman Field.
 
NEXT UP
SHU has a four-game homestand on the schedule next week. The Pioneers will host Marist in a midweek contest on Tuesday before welcoming LIU to Veteran's Park for a three-game series March 28-30.