BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (May 14, 2024) – It was difficult to tell what aspect of Veterans Memorial Park was getting the toughest workout on Tuesday afternoon. The numbers on the scoreboard were revolving like the points on a pinball machine all afternoon long. The basepaths saw 35 men make a full circuit of the bases and another 23 stranded out there, for good measure. The paths from the dugouts to the mound were heavily trod, as the two head coaches combined to send 16 pitchers to the hill, who threw 416 pitches (but just 215 strikes).
 
Even the plate umpire's eardrums were under a heavy load, as both head coaches were warned and nearly ejected at different points during the proceedings, and neither bench was shy about offering real-time feedback on Ruben Ramirez's job performance.
 
In the end, the determining factor in Friday's game may have been that it was on the schedule as a home game for the Sacred Heart University baseball team, as it seemed whichever team batted last was going to come away with the win. And so it was, after Gavin Donohue (Melrose, Mass.) knocked a two-run, game-winning single inside the bag at first with one out in the ninth, to lift the Pios to an 18-17 win over Quinnipiac in the team's home finale.
 
The victory allowed SHU (30-21) to reach the 30-win plateau for the first time since the 2016 squad finished 30-28. It is the fifth time the program has reached 30 wins at the Division I level (2024, 2016, 2013, 2011, 2010).
 
There were times on Friday afternoon when it seemed like neither side would find a path to record the 27 outs necessary to win a baseball game. Sacred Heart pitching issued 14 walks. Quinnipiac pitching walked "only" nine, but then plunked seven batters as well. The two staffs combined to uncork eight wild pitches. When they were over the plate, the results weren't any better, as the two offenses combined for 34 hits, including nine for extra bases.
 
Perhaps the biggest upset of the afternoon was that the game beat the four-hour mark, if just barely, at 3 hours and 58 minutes.
 
Sacred Heart appeared to have the game well in-hand from the get-go, with an eight-spot in the bottom of the first to take an 8-1 lead, courtesy of a two-run triple from both Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.), a two-run double from Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.), and a towering, three-run homer from Donohue, his second of the season. It was just a warm-up act though, as things were just getting started.
 
Quinnipiac (19-28) had pulled within two runs by the third and took a 10-9 lead in the top of the fourth. Only three of the game's 18 half-innings would end with a zero on the scoreboard, and nine of them featured at least two runs.
 
The game would eventually make its way to the eighth inning with SHU holding a 15-13 lead. A trio of unearned runs in the top half got Quinnipiac out front, 16-15, but a Dante D'Amore (Southington, Conn.) RBI double drew Sacred Heart back level, at 16-16, in the bottom half.
 
The Bobcats took the lead again in the top of the ninth. Dominick Proctor singled through the middle leading off, advanced on a sacrifice bunt and scored on an RBI single through the left side by Jared Zimbardo.
 
One run was never going to be enough on Friday though, and free bases finally cost Quinnipiac the game in the last of the ninth. Tyler Galletti (Plainview, N.Y.) tucked a one-out single inside first base, before a walk and hit batter loaded the bases for Donohue. The first-year shortstop went the other way with the second pitch and slipped it between first baseman CJ Willis and the bag. Simonelli scored easily from second with the winning run, as the SHU dugout stormed out on the infield to celebrate with Donohue.
 
Sacred Heart wraps up the regular season this weekend with a three-game Northeast Conference series at Maryland Eastern Shore. First pitch on Thursday is set for 3 p.m. at Parker Athletic Complex in Salisbury, Md. Two wins would allow the Pios to clinch their first-ever NEC regular-season title.