BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (May 7, 2024) – It was the first time all year Veterans Memorial Park was truly graced with the full Midweek College Baseball Experience. The Sacred Heart University baseball team and Stony Brook combined for 20 runs, 23 hits, eight errors, 12 walks, three hit batters, 11 strikeouts and 321 pitches, in a game which still somehow finished in 2 hours and 34 minutes, but likely left neither coaching staff feeling spectacular.
Alex Ungar (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) did his part to make sure the Pios put it in the win column at least, as he put together a four-hit, six-RBI day in an 11-9 SHU win.
Ungar finished the day 4-for-5, with a pair of doubles and a pair of singles as well. Each of his four hits drove in at least one run, as he had an RBI single off the pitcher's leg in the first, yanked a two-run double inside the bag at third in the second, lined a two-run single into center in the sixth, and poked a run-scoring double down the right-field line in the eighth. His only out of the day came in the fifth, when he bounced into a fielder's choice.
In fact, aside from Ungar, only one other Pio actually drove in a run on the day, as
Tyler Galletti (Plainview, N.Y.) knocked a two-run single through the left side of the infield in the first. SHU's remaining three runs all scored via error or some other form of chicanery.
The game was busy right from the start, with runs in each of the first four half-innings, as Sacred Heart held a 6-3 lead through two. Then things went quiet until the sixth, which was eventful in both the top and bottom half.
Both teams did their best to fill out the box score in the top half, as Stony Brook collected three hits and the SHU defense committed four errors, which all added up to a five-run inning and an 8-6 lead for the Seawolves. Nicholas Solorzano had a pinch-hit, two-run single back through the middle of the infield to tie the game. Erik Paulsen later poked an RBI double down the left-field line to cap the frame.
SHU responded immediately with four of its own, all unearned, in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs and one on, third baseman Evan Goforth fielded a grounder off the bat of
Charlie Tallman (Fair Haven, N.J.), but failed to make an on-target throw to first, which extended the inning. The inning's first run scored on that play, and then the tying run scored when Solorzano, who stayed on at catcher, threw the ball into center field trying to nab the trail runner on a double steal. Ungar gave SHU the lead for good with a two-out, two-run single into center field to make it 10-8.
The teams would trade single runs in the eighth to create the 11-9 final.
Switch pitcher
PJ Rogan (Wildwood, Mo.) came on with one out in the eighth and got the final five outs without surrendering a run, which made him the only one of nine pitchers on either side of the ledger to escape the afternoon without a run scored against him. He walked one, hit a batter and surrendered two hits on the way to his first collegiate save.
The Pios have their final Northeast Conference home series of the season on the docket this weekend, as they host Central Connecticut State. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m. at the Vet.
