WAPPINGERS FALLS, N.Y. (May 26, 2024) – In the end, the magic in the LIU bats was too much to overcome. In the decisive game of its final Northeast Conference Championship on Sunday afternoon, the top-seeded Sacred Heart University baseball team built a 3-1 lead through two, then led 5-2 through five and 5-4 through six at Heritage Financial Park.
 
However, SHU (35-23) missed opportunities to add on, which left the door open. Second-seeded LIU (32-23), which had already used a seven-run eighth and a five-run seventh to win elimination games on Saturday, walked right through it. The Sharks strung together six hits to plate seven runs in the top of the ninth inning, to turn a 5-4 deficit into an 11-5 lead, and went on to an 11-6 victory. LIU claimed the second NEC title in program history (2018) and collected the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, which begins next week.
 
For Sacred Heart, the season came to a close, albeit abruptly, with a program-record 35 wins and a return to the final round of the NEC Championship for the first time since 2017. The Pioneers captured the program's first regular-season conference title at the Division I level and has won 63 games over the past two seasons, as head coach Pat Egan has immediately returned the program to relevance in his first two campaigns at the helm. None of this will be any consolation to the team on the bus ride home, but the program heads into life in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in a good place.
 
On Sunday afternoon, it was a bonus edition of The Jake Babuschak (Jobstown, N.J.) Show through the first six innings. Working on just two days of rest following his six-inning, 85-pitch start on Thursday, the senior right-hander showed why he has been Sacred Heart's ace for two years running.
 
He set the tone before the team even departed the hotel, stalking the lobby in full uniform four hours before first pitch. Once on the hill, he went longer and fared better than could ever be expected on such short rest. Babuschak gutted through six innings on 108 pitches (79 strikes) and held LIU to four runs on eight hits and a walk, with three strikeouts. He even stranded two in scoring position in the sixth to finish his afternoon with a 5-4 lead intact.
 
Frankly, given the circumstances, the outing deserved a better outcome. It was a start which would have gone down in the history books if SHU had held on for the victory. Unfortunately, only one team can leave town with the trophy, and LIU was not to be denied.
 
Left-hander Owen MacDonnell (Londonderry, N.H.) took over to start the seventh and got the side in order that inning. SHU got the leadoff man on in the bottom half and got him as far as third base, but could not tack on. MacDonnell held the line in the eighth, as the first two men got on, but he refused to surrender the lead. The Pios went in order in the bottom half.
 
In the ninth, the levee broke. Back-to-back singles from Benjamin Fierenzi and Jake Mastillo opened the frame, but then MacDonnell popped up Carlton Harper on the infield for the first out. From there, four consecutive Sharks would reach base. JC Navarro pumped a single into right field to tie the game. Jack Power pulled one into left to give the Sharks the lead.
 
Right-hander Jake McDowell (Brookfield, Conn.) took over and hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. Noah Sorensen then went the other way with a 1-2 pitch and put it narrowly over the head of Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) in right to plate a pair and open the lead up to 8-5. Three batters later, with the bases full again, Fierenzi provided the knockout blow, when he lashed a single into left field. The hit was set to chase home two anyway, but the ball got behind Michael Simonelli (Milford, Conn.) in left, which allowed the third run to score, as the lead ballooned to 11-5.
 
Sacred Heart would get one back on a wild pitch in the last of the ninth, but it would not be nearly enough. The Pios had two men on and still needed two more baserunners to bring the tying run to the plate, when Jack VanDoran got Ungar to pop up behind the plate to seal LIU's title.
 
At the conclusion of play, Babuschak, Simonelli and Ungar were all named to the NEC All-Championship Team.