Games 10, 11 & 12
Sacred Heart at Fairleigh Dickinson
Northeast Conference
Friday, March 8 - 10 a.m. (DH)
Game 3 TBD
Naimoli Ballpark - Madison, N.J.
Live on NEC Front Row

It's straight into the deep end for both the Sacred Heart University baseball team and Fairleigh Dickinson, as the two open Northeast Conference play at FDU this weekend. The two teams finished just three games apart last season – FDU (20-10 NEC record in 2023) in third and SHU (17-13) in fourth – as both made postseason appearances, which makes the three-game series a key early-season test. Both sides are looking to bounce back from some early-season woes, as they come in a combined 2-17 in non-conference play.
 
Due to unplayable field conditions at Fairleigh Dickinson's normal home in Teaneck, N.J., this weekend's games have been moved to the Naimoli Ballpark on FDU's Florham campus, in Madison, N.J. Due to incoming wet weather, the two teams have rearranged game times as well and will meet for a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. on Friday. The third game will follow either Saturday or Sunday, with a decision to be made on Friday, after consulting the weekend forecast.
 
Currently, all three games are scheduled to stream live on NEC Front Row.
 
LAST WEEKEND
SHU was down south once again last weekend, for three games against three opponents at the Central Virginia Classic. The Pios dropped 6-2 and 2-0 decisions at Virginia Commonwealth and Richmond, respectively, before finally getting into the win column with a 6-5 victory at William & Mary. Elijah Foster struck out seven over five innings of scoreless, three-hit ball in his start at Richmond to earn NEC Prime Performer honors.
 
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
Sacred Heart (1-8) dropped its first eight games of the season before coming up with a late rally to win at William & Mary. The Pios will look to get things right in NEC play and will have to be on-point from the get-go. With 12 teams in the league this season following the addition of Le Moyne, the NEC schedule is now an 11-week, 33-game gauntlet running this weekend through the middle of May. The top six teams qualify for the NEC Championship, and SHU was only three games inside the cut line a year ago, which leaves little margin for error.
 
SHU currently ranks third in the NEC in team ERA (8.38), but 10^th out of 12 teams in on-base percentage (.298) as a relatively inexperienced lineup struggles to find its footing.
 
SCOUTING THE KNIGHTS
Fairleigh Dickinson (1-9) has had its own non-conference troubles to open the season, as the Knights took one game from a four-game series at San Francisco to open the season and were then swept in three-game series at Wofford and Georgetown the next two weekends.
 
FDU is sixth in both team OBP (.331) and ERA (9.33) in the NEC thus far. Jeremy Cheeseman paces the offense with a .304/.448/.522 slash line, good for a .970 OPS.
 
ON THE MOUND
Sacred Heart projected starters:
Friday (Game 1): Jake Babuschak (RHP)
            2024 stats: 12.1 IP, 15 H, 12 R (11 ER), 7 BB, 10 K, 8.03 ERA, 1.78 WHIP
            Last start: 3/1 at VCU (L), 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
Friday (Game 2): Elijah Foster (RHP)
            2024 stats: 10.0 IP, 5, H, 3 ER, 10 BB, 16 K, 2.70 ERA, 1.50 WHIP
            Last start: 3/2 at RIC (ND), 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K
Saturday/Sunday: Joe Trombley (RHP)
            2024 stats: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 1 BB, 0 K, 9.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP
            Last start: 3/3 at W&M (ND): 2.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
 
Fairleigh Dickinson projected starters:
Friday (Game 1): Patrick Gardner (LHP)
            2024 stats: 12.0 IP, 12 H, 13 R (12 ER), 5 BB, 11 K, 9.00 ERA, 1.42 WHIP
            Last start: 3/1 at GU (ND), 4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 3 BB, 3 K
Friday (Game 2): Joey Kosowsky (RHP)
            2024 stats: 14.1 IP, 20 H, 13 R (8 ER), 6 BB, 4 K, 5.02 ERA, 1.81 WHIP
            Last start: 3/2 at GU (L), 6.0 IP, 8 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 1 K
Saturday/Sunday: Zac Capps (RHP)
            2024 stats: 11.0 IP, 13 H, 14 R (13 ER), 8 BB, 10 K, 10.64 ERA, 1.91 WHIP
            Last start: 3/3 at GU (L), 4.0 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
 
PREVIOUSLY AGAINST FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON
FDU will be looking to use its own home-field advantage to flip the script from a year ago, when SHU took two out of three games in a mid-April series at Veterans Park. The Pios took an 8-4 win in the opener, behind eight innings of one-run, three-hit ball from Jake Babuschak, before FDU used five early runs to stake out a lead en route to a 7-4 victory on Saturday. Sacred Heart utilized a seven-run seventh inning to cruise to a 10-5 win in Sunday's finale.
 
The two met in the postseason as well, as Charlie Costello fired two scoreless innings on zero days of rest to finish off a 5-4 SHU victory in an elimination game on the third day of the NEC Championship.
 
ALL-TIME AGAINST THE KNIGHTS
The two teams have met 93 times in an all-time series which dates to 1999. Sacred Heart has had the better of it, with a 64-29 advantage, which includes a 59-26 edge across 85 NEC contests. SHU is an impressive 28-11 all-time on the road against the Knights.
 
NEXT UP
SHU has midweek trips to Northeastern (Tuesday) and Yale (Wednesday) next week, before returning to the Vet for its first home games of 2024. The Pios will host Merrimack in an NEC series on March 15-17.