DOVER, Del. (April 21, 2024) – In a spot where the Sacred Heart University baseball team really needed it, right-hander Elijah Foster (Plainfield, N.J.) put together the strongest start of his young college career. After the Pioneers were walked off of Bob Reed Field both Friday and Saturday, Foster made sure they had a chance to leave Delaware State with something, as he set the tone with six scoreless innings and five strikeouts on Sunday afternoon. SHU used a three-run fifth to take control of the proceedings, on the way to a 6-2 victory in the Northeast Conference series finale.
 
Salvaging the final game of the series allowed Sacred Heart (19-18, 15-6 NEC) to exit the weekend still holding a share of first place in the NEC. With four weekends left in the regular season, the Pios are level with LIU and Wagner at the top of the heap, two games clear of fourth-place Delaware State. The top two seeds will ultimately earn first-round byes at the NEC Championship.
 
DSU (14-18, 13-8 NEC) loaded the bases in the first and SHU did the same in the second, but both teams came up empty. The Pioneers would open the scoring with a run in the top of the fourth, after Ronan Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) was hit by a pitch with one out. He went first-to-third on a single to center by John Greene (Naugatuck, Conn.) and then scored the game's first run on a first-and-third double steal.
 
SHU seized control of the afternoon with three more in the top of the fifth. Singles from Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) and Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) set the stage for Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.), who drove in a pair with a double to left field. McGuire would later score when Gavin Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) took a four-pitch, bases-loaded walk.
 
An insurance run in the seventh made it 5-0. Joey Skarad (Stamford, Conn.) singled to center, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on an RBI single to center by Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.).
 
Things briefly got dicey in the last of the seventh, as the Delaware State bats got going against the SHU bullpen and plated a pair. A leadoff double from Wilfredo Mendez was followed by a pair of walks, as the Hornets loaded the bases with nobody out. Left-hander Jonathan Peterson (Florham Park, N.J.) got Jaryn Sample to fly out to shallow right, but then Krew Bouldin knocked a two-run single into center field. The Hornets had runners at the corners with one out, but Peterson rolled up a double-play ball to end the inning and limit the damage.
 
SHU tacked on one more in the eighth to create the 6-2 final. Kovalchik led off with a walk, moved up on a McGuire sacrifice and scored from second on an RBI double to center by Ronan Donohue.
 
Foster (2-1) went six scoreless on 88 pitches (57 strikes), the longest outing of his first collegiate season. He surrendered six hits and – for the second straight week – limited the free bases, as he issued just one walk and hit a batter against five strikeouts.
 
Fellow first-year right-hander Ricardo Gonzalez (1-4) needed 85 pitches (47 strikes) to get through the first 4.1 innings on the mound for Delaware State. He surrendered four runs on six hits, walked four, hit a batter and struck out two.
 
SHU has a home-and-home with Fairfield on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, before hosting Norfolk State in an NEC weekend series on April 26-28.