Games 23, 24 & 25
Sacred Heart vs. Long Island
Northeast Conference
Friday, March 29 - 2 p.m.
Saturday, March 30 - Noon (DH)
Veterans Memorial Park - Bridgeport, Conn.

It has been a banner month of March for the Sacred Heart University baseball team. Winners of each of its first three Northeast Conference series and holding a share of first place heading into Weekend #4, the Pioneers will lock horns with a Long Island University team which is also off to a quick start after making the postseason a year ago. The opportunity is on the table for SHU to make the month of March a true statement of intent for its young team moving forward.
 
Wet weather has necessitated some changes to the series schedule, which was originally scheduled to run Thursday through Saturday. Instead, the two teams will open the weekend with a 2 p.m. contest on Friday at Veterans Memorial Park in Bridgeport. A doubleheader will follow at noon on Saturday to wrap things up.
 
At a minimum, live stats will be available for all three games. Video coverage, via YouTube Live, and live audio, via Mixlr, will be available as conditions and staffing considerations allow.
 
THE LAST WEEK
It was chilly last weekend, but SHU stayed hot, as the Pioneers swept away Stonehill on the road. Sacred Heart posted 6-1 and 3-1 victories in a Friday doubleheader, before breaking out the brooms for the second straight weekend with a 6-4 win on Sunday. Pitching set the table right out of the gate on Friday, as right-handed ace Jake Babuschak put together seven innings of one-run ball in the opener and fellow right-hander Joe Trombley followed with six innings of one-run ball in the back end of the doubleheader.
 
SHU has won four in a row, as it posted a 6-3 win over Marist in non-conference play at the Vet on Tuesday.
 
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
SHU (11-11, 8-1 NEC) has won eight of its last nine to surge back to .500 overall and has six straight wins in NEC play. The Pios are tied with Wagner (10-14, 8-1 NEC) atop the league standings with the conference schedule set to pass its one-third mark this weekend. It is SHU's best start to conference play in well over a decade, at least.
 
To modify an old baseball saying, you can't win a conference title in March, but you can absolutely lose one, and Sacred Heart has made sure to do anything but out of the gate in 2024. It is too early to concern oneself with such things, but the magic number for the Pios to lock up a postseason berth is likely to drop below 20 this weekend.
 
Sacred Heart pitching boasts the NEC's best ERA (5.28) and opponent batting average (.262).
 
SCOUTING THE SHARKS
LIU (7-14, 6-3 NEC) took two out of three from Le Moyne to open NEC play, dropped two out of three at defending champion Central Connecticut State, and then swept away Norfolk State at home last weekend. The fifth-place team a year ago, the Sharks are third in the early going and are led by 2023 All-NEC Second Team outfielder Jake Mastillo and his .991 OPS. Mastillo has slashed .337/.363/.628 with seven doubles and six dingers. He leads the NEC in runs batted in, with 29.
 
As a team, LIU boasts the NEC's second-best on-base percentage (.373), but also its third-worst ERA (9.47).
 
ON THE MOUND
Sacred Heart projected starters:
Friday: Jake Babuschak (RHP)
            2024 stats: 35.1 IP, 33 H, 17 R (16 ER), 11 BB, 25 K, 4.08 ERA, 1.25 WHIP
            Last start: 3/22 at STO (W), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K
Saturday (Game 1): Joe Trombley (RHP)
            2024 stats: 18.2 IP, 17 H, 6 R (5 ER), 4 BB, 10 K, 2.41 ERA, 1.13 WHIP
            Last start: 3/22 at STO (ND), 6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K
Saturday (Game 2): Elijah Foster (RHP)
            2024 stats: 20.2 IP, 14 H, 11 R (10 ER), 18 BB, 31 K, 4.35 ERA, 1.55 WHIP
            Last start: 3/24 at STO (W), 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K
 
LIU projected starters:
Friday: Garrett Yawn (RHP)
            2024 stats: 29.0 IP, 41 H, 21 R (18 ER), 18 BB, 34 K, 5.59 ERA, 2.03 WHIP
            Last start: 3/22 vs. NSU (ND), 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K
Saturday (Game 1): Dominic Pieto (RHP)
            2024 stats: 34.1 IP, 32 H, 22 R (21 ER), 15 BB, 47 K, 5.50 ERA, 1.37 WHIP
            Last start: 3/22 vs. NSU (W), 8.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 17 K
Saturday (Game 2): Jared Hughes (RHP)
            2024 stats: 22.2 IP, 38 H, 34 R (27 ER), 7 BB, 19 K, 10.72 ERA, 1.99 WHIP
            Last start: 3/24 vs. NSU (W), 6.0 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 9 K
 
PREVIOUSLY AGAINST LIU
The two met at LIU last season, with the Sharks taking two out of three in a series where pitching was mostly optional. LIU used five early runs and held on late to grind out a normal-enough, 6-5 victory in the opener, but things got weird from there. The back end of the Friday doubleheader turned into a 3 hour, 50 minute odyssey, which saw SHU pound out 16 hits and lock down a 16-6 victory with darkness encroaching on LIU Baseball Stadium. The Pios would hold an 11-5 lead in the middle of the seventh of Sunday's series finale, but let one get away, as LIU plated two in the seventh, four in the eighth and one more in the ninth to walk off with a 12-11 win and the series victory.
 
SHU exacted its revenge in the postseason by defeating LIU twice at the NEC Championship. The Pios opened their tournament with a 23-2 (7 inn.) drubbing of the Sharks and then ended the defending champs' season with a 6-4 victory the next day.
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE SHARKS
The two teams have seen plenty of each other over the years, as the all-time series spans 96 games and dates to 1999. The Pioneers hold a 58-38 advantage, which includes a 52-37 record across 89 NEC contests. 
 
NEXT UP
SHU will head to Stony Brook, weather-permitting, for a midweek non-conference contest on Tuesday, but is right back home at the Vet next weekend to continue a nine-game NEC homestand. The Pios will host Coppin State on April 5-7.