FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart baseball team is back at Veteran's Park this weekend as they host the Iona Gaels in a pivotal Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) series beginning Friday.
The three-game set opens with a 3 p.m. first pitch on Friday, followed by 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pioneers are coming off a hard-fought MAAC series at Niagara. SHU opened strong with a 10–9 win in game one but fell short in the next two contests, 9-5 and 10-9.
SHU bounced back in midweek action, edging Fordham 5-4 in a thrilling comeback win on Tuesday. After being down two runs, SHU added five runs across five innings for the win.
Ronan Donohue led the offensive charge with a scorching .417 average, collecting five hits including a double, home run, and two RBIs.
Alex Ungar flexed his power at the plate, posting an .842 slugging percentage with seven hits, three doubles, two homers, and six RBIs.
On the mound, Joey Trombely delivered eight shutout innings, giving up just six hits and striking out four.
Bryan Matuschat was lights out in relief, tossing 4.1 scoreless frames while holding Niagara to a .071 batting average and striking out three.
SCOUTING IONA
Iona enters the weekend 10th in the MAAC standings with an 8-13 conference record. The Gaels are coming off a series loss to Siena, taking the final game 6–5 after dropping the first two. Their last series win came against Canisius.
In midweek play, Iona fell in a heartbreaker, dropping an 11-inning battle to St. John's, 6-5.
Offensively, Sean Stephenson leads the way with a .354 average, 13 doubles, and five home runs.
James Kemp, a graduate infielder, paces the Gaels with 47 RBIs and a .591 slugging percentage, totaling 10 doubles and nine home runs.
On the mound, Andrelys Payamps anchors the staff with a 4.84 ERA and 57 strikeouts over 48.1 innings.
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will be the first meeting between SHU and Iona since 2016, when the Pios edged the Gaels 4–3 in New Rochelle. Sacred Heart leads the all-time series 6–2.
UP NEXT
The Pioneers will stay at home, hosting Central Connecticut State in a midweek matchup on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Veteran's Park.
