POMONA, N.Y. – The Sacred Heart University baseball team ended its season Saturday falling to Fairfield and Marist in its first appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Tournament on Saturday.
 
The Pioneers fell to Fairfield early in the day, 14-3 and faced a tough battle against Marist late at night, 9-7.
 
SHU vs Fairfield
Pitching
Elijah Foster (L, 5-3): 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (3 ER), 5 BB, 1 SO
Mitch Hawkins: 1.0 IP, 5 H, 7 R (3 ER)
Jonathan Peterson: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 SO
Ryan Redmond: 0.2 IP, 1 H
 
Hitting
Tim McGuire: 2 H, 1 RBI
Ronan Donohue: 3 H, 1 R
Alex Ungar: 1 H, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B
 
How it Happened
The Pioneers faced a tough outing on the mound as Fairfield jumped ahead early, taking advantage of a bases-loaded walk to open the scoring in the second inning. The Stags added two more in the frame on a passed ball and another walk to stretch their lead.
 
Fairfield broke things open in the third, putting up eight runs to take a commanding 11-0 lead.
 
The Stags tacked on another run in the fourth with an RBI single, but Sacred Heart showed some fight in the fifth. Alex Ungar got the Pios on the board with a clutch RBI double, followed by a sacrifice fly from Gavin Donohue and a sharp RBI single off the bat of Tim McGuire to bring in three.
 
Fairfield added one more in the sixth and closed it out in seven innings, taking the 13-3 win.
 
SHU vs Marist
Pitching
Ryan Parker: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 4 R (4 ER), 2 BB, 2 K
Bryan Matuschat: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 3 K
PJ Rogan: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER)
Charlie Costello: 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R (2 ER)
Ryan Redmond: 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER)
 
Hitting
Tim McGuire: 3 H, 1 R
Joe Cilea: 1 H, 3 BB, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B
Alex Ungar: 1 H, 2 R, 1 RBI
 
How it Happened
Marist got things going in the nightcap in the top of the first inning as a two-out, three-run homer from Zach Donahue gave the Red Foxes a 3-0 advantage.
 
SHU answered in the home half of the first, plating a run on a trio of singles. Alex Ungar and Tim McGuire started off the frame with back-to-back singles before Gavin Donohue sent one up the middle to cut the margin to 3-1.
 
After Marist added a run in the top of the second, the Pioneers evened the score at 4-4 with a three-run third inning. With the bases loaded and two out, junior catcher Joe Cilea tallied one of the biggest hits in his collegiate career as he fired a rocket over a sprinting center fielder to clear the bases.
 
Both teams scored in the fourth, with Dante D'Amore plating SHU's run with an RBI groundout. Following the game's fourth straight inning with a run, the Pios and Red Foxes transitioned to the fifth tied at 5-5.
 
The pitching settled in over the next couple of innings, with neither team scoring until the bottom of the seventh. First year righty Bryan Matuschat was strong as the first pitcher out of the pen, going 3.2 innings with one run allowed and three strikeouts.
 
After 2.5 scoreless innings, the Pios took a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Following two quick outs, Zack Kovalchik took a pitch to the ankle to put a runner on. Cilea followed Kovalchik with a walk before Ronan Donohue singled to break the tie. After another hit-by-pitch, Ungar worked an RBI walk after starting 0-2 for SHU's seventh run.

Unfortunately, the Red Foxes would not stay down long as Marist built an 8-7 lead in the top of the eighth. The first run was scored on a single before Jason Claiborn smashed a two-run bomb to right field to swing the lead.
 
Marist added another run in the next frame, meaning the Pioneers headed to the home half of the ninth trailing 9-7.
 
SHU started the last half inning with two quick outs, but a walk to JW Fitzgerald provided some hope. Unfortunately, a hard-hit fly-out to center field followed, ending the game and Sacred Heart's season.