BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (April 27, 2024) – On Saturday afternoon, the outcome was never really in doubt at Veterans Memorial Park. The Sacred Heart University baseball team plated two runs in the first, added two more in the second and never looked back, on the way to an 11-3 win over Norfolk State in the middle game of a Northeast Conference weekend series. Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) and Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.) had four hits apiece to pace a 15-hit Pioneer attack, with the former scoring three runs and the latter driving in three.
 
SHU (22-19, 17-6 NEC) secured its seventh series victory in eight weekends of NEC play. LIU and Wagner both posted wins on Saturday as well, preserving the three-way tie at the top of the league standings heading into Sunday's series finales. The Pios, Sharks and Seahawks are all now four games clear of Delaware State and Merrimack, which are tied for fourth. Delaware State blew a 10-1, sixth-inning lead at LIU on Saturday.
 
For its part, Sacred Heart took care of business early on Saturday, with two in the first and two more in the second. In the first, Kovalchik pulled a one-out double inside the bag at third and came around to score when Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.) followed with an RBI single to right field. D'Amore advanced on a McGuire single and scored when Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) drilled an RBI double the other way into the gap in right-center.
 
In the second, Kovalchik got things started with a two-out single to left and motored around to score on a double into the alley in right-center by D'Amore. McGuire followed and dumped an RBI single into left-center to score D'Amore.
 
Norfolk State (11-31, 6-17 NEC) got on the board in the top of the third, as Jamal Ritter singled and later scored on an RBI groundout by Justin Journette, but SHU responded with three in the bottom of the fourth to break the game open. It was the heart of the order again, as Gavin Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) took a leadoff walk and scored from first on an RBI double down the left-field line by Kovalchik. Two batters later, McGuire got around on one as well, to pull an RBI double of his own down the right-field line. McGuire would later score the inning's final run on an error.
 
Now ahead 7-1, it was largely academic from there. McGuire doubled home another run in the sixth. Norfolk State got an RBI triple from Ritter as well as an unearned run in the top of the seventh to make it 8-3. In the bottom of the seventh, Ronan Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) scored on an errant pickoff throw and Dennis Gamester (West Haven, Conn.) knocked an RBI double down the left-field line. Gamester would later cap the scoring by poking a run-scoring single through the right side to create the 11-3 final.
 
Meanwhile, right-hander Joe Trombley (Watervliet, N.Y.) was working his way deeper into the game than he had so far in the first year of his collegiate career. He used 97 pitches (72 strikes) to work through 6.2 innings of three-run (two earned) ball. He allowed eight hits, did not issue a walk and struck out four on the way to the win (2-1). Switch pitcher PJ Rogan (Wildwood, Mo.) struck out three while throwing a scoreless final 2.1 innings to finish things off.
 
Right-hander John Horton (2-4) was knocked around a bit over five innings and 110 pitches (66 strikes) on the mound for Norfolk State. He ceded seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits – including five for extra bases – to go with two walks, a hit batter and five strikeouts.
 
SHU will be looking for its third weekend sweep of the season in Sunday's series finale, set for a noon first pitch at the Vet.