Games 44, 45 & 46
Sacred Heart at Wagner
Northeast Conference
Friday, May 3 - 3 p.m. (DH)
Saturday, May 4 - 7 p.m.
Jim Hynes Baseball Stadium - Union, N.J.

How often do you get a series in May between two teams tied for first place? It's a special, high-drama weekend for the Sacred Heart University baseball team and Wagner, as it will be a one- or three-game swing in one direction of the other at the top of the Northeast Conference standings. LIU, the other member of the three-way first-place tie, will have its hands full as well this weekend, as the Sharks travel to visit a competitive Merrimack team.
 
A series win, combined with at least one loss by LIU, would put SHU in the catbird seat with just two weekends to go. The Pios would be, at worst, tied for first place with all the relevant tiebreakers in hand, with six games remaining.

Expected wet weather on Sunday has forced the teams to move some pieces around this weekend. SHU and Wagner will now play a doubleheader on Friday, beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's game remains as scheduled, at 7 p.m., and there is no longer a game on Sunday. All three games will be contested at Jim Hynes Baseball Stadium, on the campus of Kean University, in Union, N.J. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Wagner will provide live stats throughout the weekend.
 
THE LAST WEEK
SHU bounced right back following its first NEC series loss and swept away Norfolk State at Veterans Memorial Park last weekend. The Pios had to erase a 4-0 deficit on the way to a 9-5 victory on Friday, and then rolled to 11-3 and 6-1 wins on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Tim McGuire went 5-for-11 with two doubles and drove in six runs in the series, to earn NEC Prime Performer accolades.
 
The Pioneers picked up a 6-4 win over Yale at home in midweek action, to post their fifth victory. Dante D'Amore bookended SHU's scoring with home runs, his second multi-homer game of the season.
 
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
Sacred Heart (24-19, 18-6 NEC) has played eight NEC series this spring and has won seven of them. Last week was the team's third sweep of the season, as it also swept away Merrimack and Stonehill to open the season. The Pios are in the hunt for their first-ever NEC regular-season title, in their final season in the league. The closest they have come to the regular-season crown was when the 2009 squad finished a game behind Wagner in second place.
 
Zack Kovalchik is tied-fifth in the NEC in hits (54) and solo-sixth in doubles (11).
 
As a team, SHU leads the league in ERA (4.98) and has climbed up to seventh in the NEC in on-base percentage (.371).
 
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
For its part, Wagner (21-22, 18-6 NEC) has six series wins across eight NEC weekends, but has four sweeps to make up the difference. Wagner has won six straight in league play, as it swept a series at winless Maryland Eastern Shore last weekend and took all three at home against Le Moyne the weekend before. The Seahawks dropped an 11-4 midweek contest at Lehigh on Wednesday afternoon.
 
The Wagner lineup boasts the first and eighth-best on-base percentages in the NEC, in Diego Tavarez (.478) and Zack Kent (.452), respectively. Tavarez has a .345/.478/.476 slash line, good for a .954 OPS.
 
Wagner does not hit for a lot of power, as it ranks 11^th in the 12-team NEC in slugging (.340), but is constantly on base, with the league's third-best OBP (.387). The Seahawks are second behind SHU in team ERA, but nearly a full run behind, at 5.95.
 
ON THE MOUND
Sacred Heart projected starters:
Friday (Game 1): Jake Babuschak (RHP)
            2024 stats: 58.2 IP, 61 H, 35 R (34 ER), 20 BB, 55 K, 5.22 ERA, 1.38 WHIP
            Last start: 4/26 vs. NSU (ND), 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
Friday (Game 2): Joe Trombley (RHP)
            2024 stats: 44.0 IP, 44 H, 21 R (18 ER), 13 BB, 26 K, 3.68 ERA, 1.30 WHIP
            Last start: 4/27 vs. NSU (W), 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 4 K
Saturday: Elijah Foster (RHP)
            2024 stats: 42.1 IP, 29 H, 19 R (18 ER), 38 BB, 62 K, 3.83 ERA, 1.58 WHIP
            Last start: 4/28 vs. NSU (W), 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K
 
Wagner projected starters:
Friday (Game 1): Frankie Wright (RHP)
            2024 stats: 62.0 IP, 67 H, 32 R (27 ER), 21 BB, 41 K, 3.92 ERA, 1.42 WHIP
            Last start: 4/26 at UMES (W), 5.0 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Friday (Game 2): Connor Hayden (RHP)
            2024 stats: 60.0 IP, 64 H, 28 R (23 ER), 22 BB, 34 K, 3.45 ERA, 1.43 WHIP
            Last start: 4/27 at UMES (W), 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K
Saturday: Ryan Bilka (RHP)
            2024 stats: 48.1 IP, 40 H, 19 R (16 ER), 20 BB, 43 K, 2.98 ERA, 1.24 WHIP
            Last start: 4/28 at UMES (W), 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
 
LAST MEETING
Last year's series between the two was the low point of Sacred Heart's season on the way to a fourth-place finish, as the Pioneers were swept off their home field by Wagner in late April. The Seahawks chalked up 6-5 and 14-4 victories in a Friday doubleheader and then used a seven-run eighth to put the hammer down and finish off the sweep with a 10-5 victory on Saturday.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
The two teams have met 90 times in a hotly-contested all-time series which dates to 1998. Following last season's sweep, Wagner holds a 47-43 advantage, including a 44-38 margin in NEC play. SHU is 22-23 in 45 all-time road contests against the Seahawks.
 
NEXT UP
SHU will host Stony Brook on Tuesday afternoon and then wrap up the home portion of its NEC schedule with three against defending champion Central Connecticut State on May 10-12 at the Vet.