BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (April 28, 2024) – Winning a league title in baseball requires taking care of business against the league's also-rans. The Sacred Heart University baseball team did just that on its home field this weekend. First-year right-hander Elijah Foster (Plainfield, N.J.) struck out a season-best 10 over five innings of one-run, three-hit ball at Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon, as the Pioneers finished off a Northeast Conference weekend sweep of 11^th-place Norfolk State with a 6-1 victory. SHU had just six hits, but capitalized on eight walks and four hit batters along the way.
 
Both LIU and Wagner completed sweeps on Sunday as well, which means that with just three weekends – nine games – remaining in the NEC regular season, SHU (23-19, 18-6) continues to be in the midst of a three-way tie at the top of the standings. The trio are now likely the only serious contenders for the regular-season title and the NEC's two first-round byes, as the group is four games clear of fourth place Merrimack.
 
Much like Saturday, Sacred Heart got things started early on Sunday and never looked back after two runs in the bottom of the first. Gavin Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) took the first of the team's eight walks leading off, moved to second on a single by Zack Kovalchik (Archbald, Pa.) and advanced to third when Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.) bounced into a fielder's choice. Tim McGuire (Portsmouth, R.I.) followed with an RBI single back through the middle and D'Amore later scored on an RBI groundout by Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.).
 
Tie Pios pushed the lead to 3-0 with a run in the last of the fourth. Donohue started things again, as he was hit by a pitch with one out. He went first-to-third when Kovalchik pulled a single through the left side and scored on an RBI groundout by D'Amore.
 
The two teams traded runs in the fifth to make it a 4-1 game. In the top half, Jamal Ritter crushed a two-out, solo home run to right field, his eighth of the season. In the bottom half, Ungar led off, reached on an error, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and then scored as part of a first-and-third double-steal play with two outs.
 
Meanwhile, Foster (3-1) was at his best. He got through five innings on 86 pitches (55 pitches) and had to face only 20 batters to do so. Foster surrendered just the one run, via the Ritter home run, on three hits. He did issue three walks, but also recorded 10 of his 15 outs via the strikeout. Over his last two starts, Foster has totaled 11 innings of one-run ball with 15 strikeouts.
 
SHU would tack on a pair of insurance tallies in the bottom of the sixth to create the 6-1 final. The Pios recorded just one hit in the frame, as they also benefited from a walk and a hit batsman. McGuire had a run-scoring groundout in the frame – his sixth RBI of the series – while Ungar cracked an RBI double off the fence in left to cap the scoring.
 
Right-hander Jake McDowell (Brookfield, Conn.) faced just 14 batters while throwing four scoreless innings to notch his second save of the season. He allowed three hits, walked one and struck out six. Only 34 Norfolk State batters came to the plate on the afternoon, of which 16 struck out.
 
Right-hander Liam Royster (0-5) needed 109 pitches (63 strikes) to get through 5.1 innings on the hill for Norfolk State. He ceded six runs (five earned) on five hits, walked five, hit a pair and struck out two.
 
SHU will host Yale in midweek non-conference action on Tuesday, before hitting the road for a three-game NEC showdown against another member of the tie for first place. The Pios visit Wagner on May 3-5 at Jim Hynes Baseball Stadium, on the campus of Kean University, in Union, N.J.