After wrapping up the program's first-ever Northeast Conference regular-season title over the weekend, the Sacred Heart University baseball team heads into the postseason with a top seed and first-round bye at the NEC Championship. The Pioneers will open their postseason run at 11 a.m. on Thursday, against an opponent to be determined. The double-elimination tournament is being held at Heritage Financial Park in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., home of the New York Yankees high-A, South Atlantic League affiliate, the Hudson Valley Renegades.
 
Sacred Heart is a four-time NEC champion (2006, 2011, 2012, 2015).
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are available for purchase online at the link above. An all-session pass is available for $30 and is good for the duration of the NEC Championship. Otherwise, admission is available on a per-day basis, at a cost of $10 for adults, or $5 for students, children, senior citizens and members of the armed forces.
 
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
Sacred Heart (33-21, 25-8 NEC) swept away Maryland Eastern Shore on the road over the weekend to clinch the program's first NEC regular-season crown in its final campaign in the league. The Pios head into the postseason winners of 14 of their last 16 and dropped just one of 11 NEC series all season. Senior right-hander Jake Babuschak heads up a pitching staff which has posted a 4.69 ERA, the best in the league by over a run. First baseman Dante D'Amore (1.042), center fielder Zack Kovalchik (.922) and third baseman Tim McGuire (.912) all boast OPS figures north of .900.
 
THE FIELD
The rest of the NEC Championship shakes out as follows: LIU (29-22, 24-9 NEC) finished one game behind SHU in second, to earn the other first-day bye. Merrimack (30-24, 22-11 NEC) won 11 of its last 12 league games to surge past Wagner (25-28, 21-12 NEC) for third, while the Seahawks are fourth. Delaware State (22-25, 20-13 NEC) finished fifth, while Fairleigh Dickinson (25-28, 18-14 NEC) took two out of three at Wagner on the final weekend to claim the sixth and final spot.
 
There will be a new NEC champion in 2024, as defending champion Central Connecticut State (18-24, 17-15 NEC) dropped two out of three at home against Delaware State to finish a game behind FDU and miss the tournament.
 
As would be expected, SHU played competitive series against nearly all the teams involved. The only sweep involved was when the Pios took all three games at home against Merrimack, but that was way back in the middle of March. SHU took two out of three at home against LIU and two out of three on the road at Wagner and FDU. Delaware State dealt Sacred Heart its only series loss of the NEC campaign, when the Hornets took two out of three from the Pios in Delaware in mid-April.
 
SHU AT THE NEC CHAMPIONSHIP
All-time, the Pioneers hold a 28-21 record (.571 winning percentage) over 14 appearances at the NEC Championship. Following its initial conference title in 2006, Sacred Heart qualified for the league tournament in nine straight seasons from 2009 through 2017. The span encompassed the program's remaining three NEC crowns, plus runner-up finishes in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2017, as the Pioneers played in the final round eight times in the nine-year stretch. SHU is back in the NEC Championship for the second straight year.
 
AGAINST THE COMPETITION
With FDU, LIU and Wagner all being longtime members of the league alongside the Pioneers, Sacred Heart has postseason history with all three. The Pioneers are 5-1 all-time at the NEC Championship against Wagner, but most-recently dropped an 11-7 decision in a 2019 elimination game. SHU has won all five of its tournament games against LIU, including 23-2 (7 inn.) and 6-4 victories a year ago, the latter of which ended the Sharks' season. The Pios are 3-1 in the postseason against FDU, including a 5-4 triumph in an elimination game last year. Add them all up and SHU is 13-2 in NEC Championship play against schools in this year's tournament.
 
Delaware State and Merrimack are both making their initial appearances in the NEC Championship.
 
LIFE OF THE TOP SEED
One might think taking the regular-season crown would put SHU as an odds-on favorite to win the league title, but double-elimination baseball can be a fickle beast.
 
The NEC has conducted 21 tournaments since reverting to a division-free standings format in 2002. On the one hand, in that time frame, the league's regular-season champion and top seed has hoisted the tournament trophy just eight times, for a conversion rate of 38%.
 
On the other hand, the top seed has won the NEC tournament more than any other specific seed has. The second seed has won the tournament title six times, the third seed has claimed the trophy four times, and the fourth seed has come away victors on three occasions.
 
The NEC expanded the field from four to six teams last season. As such, no team seeded lower than fourth has claimed a title yet.
 
SCHEDULE
The NEC Championship will be contested as a double-elimination tournament, scheduled as follows (seeds in parentheses):
 
Wednesday, May 22
Game 1: (3) Merrimack vs. (6) Fairleigh Dickinson – 11 a.m.
Game 2: (4) Wagner vs. (5) Delaware State – 3 p.m.
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser – 7 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Thursday, May 23
Game 4: (1) Sacred Heart vs. Game 1/2 Winner (worse seed) – 11 a.m.
Game 5: (2) LIU vs. Game 1/2 Winner (better seed) – 3 p.m.
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4/5 Loser (worse seed) – 7 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Friday, May 24
Game 7: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – Noon
Game 8: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 4/5 Loser (better seed) – 4 p.m. (loser eliminated)
 
Saturday, May 25
Game 9: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser – Noon (loser eliminated)
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner – 4 p.m. (Game 9 Winner eliminated with loss)
 
Sunday, May 26
*Game 11: Game 10 rematch – Noon
* Game 11 necessary only if Game 9 Winner wins Game 10.